


Blended

by pictureswithboxes



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-09-08 19:38:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8858167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pictureswithboxes/pseuds/pictureswithboxes
Summary: An AU where Quentin Lance and Donna Smoak got married when their girls were kids.





	1. Chapter 1

The drive home from the Starling City airport was a quiet one, the sun had already set and Sara had fallen asleep in the backseat. Traffic was light, but slow due to the snowy roads. Quentin cast a glance to the rearview mirror to see if Sara was still asleep, she was. A smile formed on his face at that, Sara could hardly go twenty minutes in the car without falling asleep, and with her out, it would make what he was going to say to Laurel much easier.

“How was your mom’s?” Quentin asked, glancing at Laurel. “Was Christmas fun?”

“Yeah, it was all right.” Laurel nodded, smiling a little. “We watched  _ Rudolph  _ and Mom made me and Sara wear those matching Christmas pajamas. Then Sara got to open some birthday presents from grandma and grandpa, but Mom made her wait for her actual birthday to open her birthday presents from her.” Laurel let out a little laugh. “I got the cutest sweater from Mom, Dad. I’ll wear it tomorrow to show you.”

“Yeah?” Quentin smiled some more. “Well, I’m glad your mom was able to get you something that you really like.” 

“Don’t worry, Dad, I’m still excited for whatever you got me.” Laurel teased, glancing out the window of the car. “And there was barely any snow, I didn’t know how much I missed snow on Christmas.” 

“So you and your sister missed the snow, huh?” Quentin said with a laugh. “Never thought I’d hear the words.”

“I didn’t say that  _ Sara  _ missed it.” Laurel replied, rolling her eyes. 

“I guess you didn’t.” Quentin said, glancing back at Sara to make sure she was still asleep before taking a deep breath. “There’s something I wanted to talk to you about, without your sister knowing...” 

Laurel’s brow furrowed as she looked at Quentin. “What is it, Dad?”

“I’m only telling you this now because you’re older and you’ll understand better than Sara.” Quentin started, turning to look at Laurel a little better. “Understand?”

“Yeah.” Laurel nodded, looking a little excited. Quentin knew that she loved being told she was mature, especially when she was told that she was more mature than her sister. 

“Okay, here it goes.” Quentin licked his lips and was thankful that the red light had turned green, so he didn’t have to look directly at Laurel before he said what he had to say. “You know how your mom and I have been apart for a long time now, right?”

“Yeah.” Laurel said, looking confused.

“Well, I met a woman while you and your sister were at your mom’s for winter break, and we decided to go on a date.” Quentin said, trying to keep his voice calm. “I wanted to how you feel about me starting to date.”

“Dad...” Laurel glanced out the window then back to her father. “I... I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“I want you to say how you feel.” Quentin said. “I want to hear your opinion.”

“I just... always thought that maybe you and Mom would...” Laurel trailed off, her cheeks turning red. 

“I know, baby.” Quentin sighed, putting a hand on Laurel’s shoulder. “But I just thought that you should know. And don’t worry, I will tell Sara later.”

“Okay.” Laurel said with a curious look. “Is she nice?”

“Yes, she’s nice.” Quentin nodded, chuckling a little. 

“Is she pretty?” 

“I certainly think so.”

Laurel laughed. “Do I get to meet her?”

“Not until I think we’re serious.” Quentin said. 

“Okay.” 

“I just don’t want to risk you getting too attached, in case it doesn’t work out...”

“I know, Dad.”

“... Did you want to meet her...?”

“I don’t know.”

“How do you feel about all this?”

“I don’t know.”

“Okay.”

They were quiet for a while, Laurel choosing to look out the window and watch the snow fall while Quentin was focusing on his driving. Quentin looked over at Laurel again, trying to think of something to say. He knew his daughter well enough to know that Laurel hadn’t really thought he and Dinah were getting back together.

“Did you eat before you left?” Quentin asked, earning a confused look from Laurel. 

“Mom made us eat dinner.” Laurel replied, still confused. 

“Are you hungry at all?” 

Laurel still looked confused.

“Would you say no to pizza or a burger?”

“No...”

“All right. Pick your poison.”

Laurel grinned and told Quentin to take them to Big Belly Burger.

* * *

When they got home, Quentin briefly considered not waking Sara up and carrying her instead. It wouldn’t be too difficult, Sara was tiny, she always had been. He didn’t think that nine years old was be too old for a child to be carried. It was Laurel he was worried about, the sibling rivalry that she and Sara had made it almost impossible for him to carry Sara without bothering it Laurel. So, with a heavy heart, he gently shook Sara’s shoulder and beckoned her to wake up.

Sara rubbed at her eyes and looked at Quentin sleepily before taking in her surroundings. “Are we home, Daddy?”

“Yeah, c’mon kiddo.” Quentin smiled, helping Sara out of the car. “We got some burgers on the way home.”

“Kay.” Sara nodded, following Laurel up to the house. 

Quentin grabbed the bags from the trunk and walked up to the front door, unlocking the door before letting his daughters in. Laurel walked into the kitchen and placed the food bags on the table before grabbing the plates out of the cupboard. After putting the bags at the foot of the stairs, Quentin headed into the kitchen and smiled when he saw Sara sitting at the dining room table with her feet not touching the floor. 

“Yours doesn’t have lettuce or tomatoes.” Laurel said, handing Sara her food before sitting down herself. 

“Thanks.” Sara yawned, grabbing her food. 

“You know, not eating your vegetables could be why you’re not growing.” Quentin said, unwrapping his burger and taking a bite. 

Sara frowned and stuffed some french fries in her mouth. 

“How was Christmas with your mom, baby?” Quentin asked, earning a grin from Sara. 

“Mom got us those matching PJs and we took a picture, then we watched Rudolph even though Laurel didn’t want to.” She sent Laurel a smug smile. “Then Mom let me open some of my birthday presents and we ate my cake and I blew out the candles! Mom told me to make a wish, but those aren’t real.” Sara laughed a little to herself.

“What’d your grandparents get you?” Quentin prompted. “Bet you got a good haul this year, huh?”

With that, Sara launched into an in depth explanation of all the gifts she’d received. Quentin listened intently with a small smile on his face at how excited his youngest daughter had been. His smile widened when he heard Laurel start correcting Sara when she started to exaggerate at certain parts of the story. 

“Well, let’s hope you’ll be this excited when you open your presents tomorrow.” Quentin said, offering Sara a tiny wink. 

“Can’t we each open one, Dad?” Laurel asked, and in that moment Quentin knew that if he said no, he wouldn’t hear the end of it. All because their mother let them open one. 

“I don’t see why not.” Quentin said, trying his best to keep his smile on his face. “But, I get to pick them.”

“Thanks, Dad!” Laurel replied happily while Sara choked down her fries to let out a happy whoop. 

* * *

Quentin waited until later the next day to talk to Sara about dating, it was the best plan of action, really. Give Sara her Christmas and birthday presents, eat birthday cake with the girls, he even let Sara pick whatever creepy, stop motion Christmas movie she wanted to make the family watch. Really, Quentin wasn’t surprised when he ended up watching Rudolph save Christmas, but Sara was happy. And Quentin needed Sara to be in a good mood before giving her potentially bad news.

Telling Sara that he’d started dating would probably one of the hardest things he’d ever done. He’d always known that Sara was stubborn and had a habit of outbursts when she was upset, but when he told her, Sara went silent. His heart hurt at the way Sara looked at him, like he’d just shattered all her dreams. Quentin held her gaze for a few moments before he spoke again.

“I know you’re not a fan of all this, but I’d like to know how you feel about all this.” Quentin said as gently as he could. 

Sara puffed her cheeks out angrily. “I dunno.” She mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“Baby girl, please just talk to me.” Quentin pleaded, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table. “It’s important that I know how you’re feeling about all this.”

Sara remained silent as she looked away. 

“Sara.” Quentin prompted. “Please. It’s okay to be upset.”

Sara’s eyes filled with tears and turned to face Quentin with a quivering lower lip. “Why can’t you and Mom be together anymore?”

“Sara...” Quentin sighed, suddenly grateful that Laurel was in her bedroom upstairs, and not in the room. It would only irritate Sara more. “It’s been a long time since your mother and I were together.”

“I know.” Sara furiously wiped at her cheeks.

Quentin stood up and moved over to where Sara was sitting, he knelt down in front of her and wiped the tears away. Sara sniffled loudly and Quentin took her hands in his own, it hurt to see Sara so upset. With a small frown, Quentin moved to pick Sara up and hold her. 

“I don’t wanna be picked up, Daddy.” Sara muttered, pulling away. 

“Sorry.” Quentin said with a small nod. “I don’t know what you want me to do, Honey.”

Sara let out a tiny wail and threw her hands up. 

“I’m sorry.” Quentin repeated. “You know that this doesn’t change anything between us. I won’t love you any less, I won’t love your sister any less.”

Sara grunted and threw her arms around Quentin’s shoulders. “I don’t wanna share you.”

“I know,” Quentin stood up, effectively lifting Sara out of her chair and holding her close. “And I don’t wanna have to share you either. But we’ve gotta learn to share.”

Sara buried her face in Quentin’s shoulder, soaking his sweatshirt with her tears. He was also sure that she’d blown her nose on him, but he had to do laundry tomorrow, so he wasn’t too bothered. 

“But I already share you with Laurel.” Sara muttered, making Quentin chuckle. 

“I know, kiddo.” Quentin sighed, patting Sara’s back. “But you don’t mind sharing me with Laurel, do you?”

“No.” Sara said, her voice muffled by Quentin’s shirt.

“And you and Laurel don’t even get along that well.” Quentin said with a small smile. “What if you and the lady I’m going to dinner with like each other? Wouldn’t it be easier then?”

“What if I don’t like her?” Sara asked, pulling away and looking at Quentin with tearful eyes. 

“Well if you and your sister don’t like her, then I guess I’d have to seriously consider the relationship.” Quentin said seriously. “I don’t think I’d want to date someone that my daughters didn’t like.” 

Sara smiled a little. “What if Laurel likes her but I don’t?”

“I’d still have to think about it, we all know what a great judge of character you are.”

“You’ll still love me best though, right?” Sara sniffled and wiped her nose on Quentin’s shirt again. 

“Of course I’ll still love you and Laurel best.” Quentin said.

“And it’s not gonna be like The Parent Trap?”

“No.”

“Not even the ending?”

“Honey, your mother and I are never getting back together.” 

Sara sighed and started to wiggle out of Quentin’s grip. “Daddy, I wanna get down now.”

“Okay.” Quentin set Sara down and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead before wiping the tears from her cheeks. “There you go.”

“I love you, Daddy.” Sara smiled up at him, her eyes were still a little puffy and her nose was still red, but the smile was genuine. “Can I go play now?”

“Did you unpack your bags?” 

Sara nodded happily. 

“Go on.”

* * *

It had been a long time since Quentin had been on a date. If Quentin had to think back to the last time he had a date, it was with Dinah and he was in his twenties. And back then, he had more interesting things to talk about, though being a police officer definitely gave him some anecdotes. Unless his date was the squeamish about odd or violent crimes.

They’d decided to meet at a newer Italian restaurant that neither of them had been to. Quentin was actually pretty thrilled to be able to go to a restaurant that didn’t have a kids’ menu that didn’t have a coloring section. Though, honestly, Quentin wouldn’t go anywhere without coloring sections with the girls, especially Sara.

“Hi there, Donna.” Quentin smiled, shaking Donna Smoak’s hand when they met in front of the restaurant. “Glad you could make it.”

“It’s nice to see you, Quentin.” Donna replied. 

They were both a bit awkward, Quentin would admit that. He didn’t know what to say when they were seated by the hostess, at least not at first. Quentin was told by most of his coworkers not to mention his girls too much, and not to bring up any of the more violent cases. Though he was told it was okay to talk about the weird things people did when they were high, as long as it didn’t involve drugs.

“So, Quentin, you mentioned that you had kids?” Donna asked after nearly fifteen minutes of awkward chatting.

“Yeah, two girls.” Quentin smiled a little. “What about you?”

“One girl.” Donna’s face lit up. “She’s turning eight in three months.”

“My youngest turned nine a week and a half ago.” Quentin said, leaning forward in his seat. 

“Really?” Donna laughed with a sympathetic look on her face. “And you guys celebrate Christmas? That can’t be fun for her.”

“Her birthday is actually on Christmas Day.” Quentin chuckled. “The rumors are definitely true, being born on Christmas ruins the holiday for her. And the rest of us. My ex and I have to stagger her presents over a couple days, or else our other daughter gets upset.”

“Not to mention all of the presents she gets for her birthday AND Christmas?”

“Oh, that’s the worst.” Quentin paused for a moment and looked Donna in the eye. “You know, my coworkers told me not to talk about my kids too much... But that’s all I want to do.”

“That’s the exact advise that I was given.” Donna exclaimed. “But how do you come up with something to talk about when your kid is the only thing you can focus on?!”

“Right?” Quentin laughed. “Honestly, the only two things I have to talk about right now are my daughters and the violent crimes that I investigate!” 

“Would it be weird if I was incredibly interested in hearing about those things?”

“Absolutely not.” Quentin said, earning a laugh from Donna. “So, tell me about your daughter.”

After deciding that it was okay to discuss their kids, Quentin and Donna’s date became much easier. Quentin told Donna about how Laurel always kept her bedroom clean and how Sara has had the same box of Cheez-Its under her bed for six months, how Sara broke her arm a year ago by trying use a fake grappling hook to go down the stairs, and worse, how Laurel had gotten mad and hid in a cupboard for three hours without making a peep. While Donna told him about how her daughter recently took apart their neighbor’s old handheld video game and nearly started a fire, how the school was considering letting her skip a grade. 

“So your daughter’s basically a genius, huh?” Quentin asked after another story. 

“Felicity’s too smart for her own good.” Donna smiled fondly. “Honestly I don’t know what to do with her half the time, she’s exactly like her father. I just know she’s gonna do something great.”

“I know what you mean,” Quentin let out a sigh. “Laurel will probably end up taking over a multi-million dollar corporation or being the mayor.”

“And Sara?”

Quentin chuckled a little. “Honestly?”

“Honestly.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Sara became a cult leader. She’s just so damn charismatic.”

“Really? How charismatic is that?”

“She can get almost anyone to do almost anything.” 

“Oh?”

“Trust me, if you ever get to meet her, you’ll take one look into those big, blue eyes of hers and you’ll do anything she asks.” 

“Anything?”

“Anything.” 

“Maybe you’re just a really devoted dad.”

“That might be part of the reason.”

* * *

When Quentin got home, Laurel and Sara were already in bed, but he fully expected them to be wide awake and waiting for him. With a smile, he paid the babysitter, his neighbor’s daughter from three doors down. Quentin also offered to drive her home due to the time of night, but wasn’t surprised when the girl laughed a little and said a tiny “No thank you, Officer Lance.” before shrugging on her coat and leaving.

Quentin climbed up the stairs and headed toward Sara’s bedroom first. It was eerily quiet outside Sara’s room, which meant that Sara wasn’t getting too rowdy in her bedroom, Quentin briefly wondered whether or not Sara was awake. Quentin supposed that was possible that she could’ve fallen asleep, it was pretty late in the night, but Sara could keep herself awake for days out of spite. 

After taking in a deep breath, Quentin opened Sara’s bedroom door and couldn’t help but smiling widely. 

Sara had actually fallen asleep, but not without putting up a fight. She was lying on her bed with the blankets thrown onto the floor and she had turned on her bedside lamp in an attempt to keep herself awake. Quentin sighed a little and headed over to his sleeping daughter, gathering the blankets off the floor and placing them onto the bed before sitting beside her. 

“Hey sweetheart.” Quentin murmured, gently tucking Sara back in. 

Sara groaned and opened her eyes slowly. “What time is it?”

“Past your bedtime.” Quentin replied, pushing Sara’s hair out of her face and kissing her forehead. “I just wanted to let you know that I was home.”

“Why were you gone so long?” Sara asked quietly. 

“Because I was having fun.”

Sara gave Quentin a tired look. 

“Did you have fun with Maddie and your sister?” 

“Yeah, we colored.” Sara rolled onto her side and looked up at Quentin. “Maddie made us mac and cheese.”

“Now that sounds fun.” 

Sara yawned and Quentin turned off her bedside lamp. 

“Get some sleep, Kiddo.” 

Sara nodded and closed her eyes as Quentin stood. He left the room, making absolute sure to close the door before heading over to Laurel’s room. As he had expected, Laurel was awake and waiting for him, sitting up in bed with her blankets in her lap and an expectant look on her face. 

“Did you have fun at dinner, Dad?” Laurel asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. 

“I did.” Quentin nodded, sitting at the foot of Laurel’s bed. “I heard that you got to have mac and cheese.”

“Yeah, Maddie put slices of hotdog in it too.” Laurel said with a tiny yawn. 

“Oh really?” Quentin smiled. “Now those are some classy eats, huh?”

“Sara doesn’t like anything else.” Laurel muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“Well, she is nine, you know.” Quentin said. “Her tastebuds just haven’t matured like yours have.”

Laurel nodded at the comment. “I guess.” Laurel yawned. “What was she like?”

“Donna was great,” Quentin said, earning a smile from his daughter. “She was funny and nice, she has a daughter around Sara’s age, too.”

Laurel wrinkled her nose and frowned. 

“I know,” Quentin said with a little shrug. “But it’s not a big deal, right?”

“I guess not.” 

“Besides, you and your sister are my favorite girls.” 

“I know, Dad.”


	2. Chapter 2

The last thing Sara Lance wanted to do after tenth birthday was to meet her father’s girlfriend. That is until Laurel explained to her how important it was to him that they meet her, and offered to unload the dishwasher for a month. So with a heavy heart, Sara decided to try and be nice to her dad’s girlfriend. And her daughter. 

So she sat on the sofa with Laurel, waiting for her father to effectively ruin her life with a knock off Cinderella story. 

“Okay, ladies, they’re here.” Quentin announced, looking out the window when they heard a car pull up. 

Sara huffed and crossed her arms before Laurel elbowed her in the ribs. “Don’t hit me, Pee Dragon.” Sara hissed, earning a shocked glare from Laurel.

“Dad says you’re not allowed to call me that!” Laurel snapped as Quentin moved to open the door. 

“Ya gonna tell on me?” Sara sneered before plastering a smile on her face and hopping off the sofa to greet their guests.

When Sara reached the front door, Quentin had already opened it and was offering his greetings to the woman Sara could only assume was his girlfriend. She looked around Quentin and made eye contact with the girl who was ushered into the house in front of the woman. Sara took a step back and smiled up at Quentin’s girlfriend. 

“Hi.” Sara said brightly. “I’m Sara.”

“Well, hello there, Sara.” The woman smiled, bending her knees a little to make eye contact with Sara. “My name’s Donna Smoak, your father’s told me a lot about you.” She looked up to see Laurel walking up behind Sara. “And you must be Laurel.” 

“Hi.” Laurel waved, looking over to the girl standing beside Donna. “My names Laurel.”

“I’m Felicity.” The girl smiled timidly. 

“Sara, Felicity is only a little younger than you are.” Quentin said in a lame attempt to get Sara excited about meeting this new girl. “Maybe you and Laurel could show Felicity around?”

“That sounds fun, Daddy.” Sara beamed up at her father, hoping that her father didn’t know that her smile was fake. Sara looked at Felicity, her fake smile still in place. “I’m Sara, my dad got me a canary for my birthday, wanna meet him?”

“Okay...” Felicity nodded, looking a little less anxious. “That sounds cool.”

Sara looked over to Donna and Quentin, offering them one last grin before turning and grabbing Felicity’s elbow and pulling her up the stairs with Laurel on their heels. Part of Sara felt bad about dragging Felicity up the stairs, but another part didn’t really care all that much. She pushed open her bedroom door and proudly gestured to Rocket, the Canary that Quentin had gotten her for her birthday, who was chirping away happily. 

“He’s so cute!” Felicity exclaimed, running up to Rocket’s cage while Laurel closed the door. “Can you take him out of the cage?”

Sara nodded and moved to where the cage was, smiling at Rocket before opening the little door and gently taking Rocket in her hand. “His name is Rocket, he likes to eat broccoli and apple sometimes.” 

“Can I pet him?” Felicity asked, biting her lip while her hand hovered over Rocket’s head. 

“Yeah.” Sara said with a smile. “But you have to be gentle, Daddy says that they’re really fragile.” Sara’s brow furrowed. “And we’re not really supposed to hold her too much, they’re meant to be watched and listened to.”

“Don’t worry about accidentally bumping Sara’s hand, his wings are clipped.” Laurel said, sitting on Sara’s bed. “And I closed the door.”

“He’s soft.” Felicity murmured, gently petting the top of Rocket’s head with her index finger. 

“Yeah.” Sara smiled a little and put Rocket back in his cage. “He likes it in there because he’s got lot toys. And a mirror.” 

“You’re so lucky.” Felicity said, watching as Rocket flitted around his cage. 

“Yeah, he’s pretty cool.” Sara said, crossing her arms and looking at Rocket. “My favorite is when he whistles really loud at night so Laurel and Daddy can’t sleep.” 

“Oh...” Felicity looked uncomfortable. 

“So, Felicity, what do you like to do?” Laurel asked, patting the spot next to her for Felicity to sit.

“I like computer games.” Felicity said with a small smile. “I’m really good at them.”

“That’s cool, Sara’s really bad at computer games.” Laurel said, sending Sara pointed look. “She couldn’t even beat  _ Aladdin _ .”

Sara puffed out her cheeks a little and tried not to blush as she sat down on the floor in front of her dresser. “At least I didn’t pee the bed until I was ten.” She muttered under her breath, secretly hoping that Laurel would hear her. 

Laurel either didn’t hear her or pretended not to be able to hear her. “Do you read any books?”

Felicity nodded vigorously and started talking about the books that she liked. Sara sighed and decided to ignore her sister and Felicity while they talked about books. It wasn’t her fault that she didn’t didn’t like books, they were just so boring and it was hard to focus on them long enough to get any reading done. And besides, Sara was sure she had much better things to do than sit and read. 

“I have to pee.” Sara said, hopping to her feet and heading toward the door. 

Sara made absolute sure to close the door behind her so she could sneak down the stairs. In reality, she didn’t have to pee at all, she just didn’t want to listen to Laurel and Felicity talk about books anymore. So instead, Sara decided to go downstairs and eavesdrop on Donna and her father.

It wasn’t too hard to get around the house without being noticed. Sara knew that she was small for her age, and it made it easier for her to get into the kitchen and hide in the kitchen cabinet that shared a wall with the living room, that way she’d be able to hear almost everything that was said in the dining room, kitchen, and the living room. As long as Quentin wasn’t cooking, Sara knew she could sneak in and hide. Just like she used to do when her mom and dad would argue at night when they thought she and Laurel were sleeping.

Luck was on her side, apparently. Quentin and Donna were sitting in the living room, talking about something boring, Sara was sure. After taking a deep breath, Sara skipped the last step because it squeaked, and slipped into the kitchen. It only took 3 seconds for Sara to get into the cabinet and to close the door. 

“You know, Quentin, your girls are so adorable.” Donna said, making Sara roll her eyes. 

“Oh trust me, I know they’re cute.” Quentin laughed. “But what’s worse is that  _ they  _ know that they’re cute.”

Sara hugged her knees close to her chest and sighed. Why did adults only talk about boring things?

“And you were right about Sara,” Donna continued. “I thought you were exaggerating when you talked about her. But she really does have the bluest eyes that I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Sara’s cheeks burned as she buried her face in her knees. 

“Yeah, we don’t know how she got those.” Quentin said. 

“And she has those freckles and that hair, Quentin, she might just be one of the cutest kids I’ve seen in my life.” Donna said, making Sara curl into herself tighter. “And Laurel, she’s going to be so beautiful when she gets older. She’s pretty tall for her age too, isn’t she?”

“A little bit.” Quentin replied. “So I take it that you like them?”

“They seem lovely.” Donna said. “I think we’ll get to know each other better during dinner though.”

“Should I call the girls and have them put their jackets on?”

“I can’t see why not.”

Sara panicked a little when she heard her father stand up and start walking toward the stairs. Closing her eyes tightly, Sara threw the door open and rolled out of the cabinet like she had seen on that spy movie she and Laurel had watched the night before. She slipped into the dining room and listened while her father trudged up the stairs before following him up. 

“Hey Sara, how come you’re not with your sister and Felicity?” Quentin asked, making Sara’s blood run cold. 

“I... had to pee.” Sara said, thankful that she was at least on the landing. 

“I didn’t hear a flush.” Quentin’s brow furrowed and Sara’s cheeks turned red. 

“I didn’t wanna because we have company.” Sara said, hoping that her father would accept her lie. 

Quentin gave her a confused look before sighing and running his hand through his thinning hair. “Please go flush the toilet, Baby. Then head downstairs and get your jacket, we’re going out remember?” 

Sara nodded and ran toward the bathroom, giggling a little when she heard her father muttering to himself.

“Kid gets weirder every damn day.” 

* * *

They got dinner at the same diner that Quentin took Laurel and Sara every Sunday. The waitstaff all knew the Lances, whenever they came in, Quentin got a good amount of greetings. Sara was proud to say that they even had their own table that the waitstaff seemed to reserve for them.

“So, Sara, what grade are you in?” Donna asked after she’d gotten done asking Laurel the same questions. 

“I’m in fourth grade.” Sara said, taking a bite of the french fries she’d gotten. 

“Wow, that’s gotta be fun.” Donna smiled, only making Sara irritated. “What’s your favorite subject?”

“I don’t have one.” Sara mumbled, her cheeks turning a little red. “I don’t like school.”

“Why’s that?” Donna asked, earning a glare from Sara. 

Before Sara could answer, Quentin jumped in.

“Sara gets bored a lot during class and has trouble focusing.” He said, putting a hand on Sara’s shoulder and kissing her forehead. “I think she’s just too smart for her own good.”

“What’s your favorite subject, Felicity?” Laurel asked, looking over at the younger girl, who’d been silent for the most part.

“I like math and science.” Felicity said excitedly. 

And with that, everyone was talking again, but Sara couldn’t help but still feel embarrassed. It wasn’t her fault that she wasn’t that good at school, and she hated it when people asked her about it. Being asked about school only made Sara feel stupid, and she knew that her parents and teachers said she was smart, but she still felt stupid a lot of the time. 

So there she sat at the table, her legs swinging because her feet didn’t touch the floor, hunched over her regular order and trying to keep tears out of her eyes. 

It was obvious that Laurel liked Felicity and Donna, it made perfect sense. Stupid Laurel could get along with everyone. Sara knew that it wasn’t fair to anyone for her to be mad, but Donna was nice and Felicity wasn’t too annoying. As far as she knew. But she hated them. 

All Sara wanted in that moment was to be back home in her room with Rocket and to be talking to her mother on the phone. 

The rest of dinner was uneventful, everyone but Sara seemed to have a good time. Donna had bonded a little with Laurel, and she’d tried to bond with Sara as well, but Sara didn’t want anything to do with it. Quentin had managed to talk a little with Felicity, he even promised to take her and Sara to a Starling City Rockets game some time. Not that Sara really cared. 

“So, did you girls like Donna?” Quentin asked after they’d gotten home and the other two had left. 

Laurel nodded vigorously and started talking about how nice she thought Donna was. 

“She was all right.” Sara shrugged before heading toward the stairs. “I’m tired, I’m gonna go to bed.”

“I’ll be up to tuck you in, later.” Quentin called as Sara headed up to her bedroom. 

“Goodnight, Daddy.” Sara replied, entering her bedroom. 

* * *

Sara was excited to be going to the Rockets game, the only thing that could dampen her mood was that her father had insisted on Felicity coming with them. But Sara wasn’t going to let that ruin her night, she was excited to see her favorite team play. So there she was, walking through the crowd, decked out in her Starling City Rockets apparel and holding her father’s hand so she wouldn’t get lost in the crowd.

“It was really nice of you to loan Felicity your t-shirt.” Quentin said, smiling down at Sara. 

“I know, Daddy.” Sara replied, looking over to Felicity, who was on Quentin’s other side. “Are you excited?” 

“Kinda, I’ve never been to a basketball game before.” Felicity shrugged, offering a timid smile. 

“You’ll have so much fun!” Sara exclaimed, pulling a little ahead of Quentin. “The Rockets are the best team! And when we’re done, we get to go get burgers at the best restaurant in the world!”

“So even if you don’t like the game, it still ends on a good note.” Quentin laughed, leading the girls into the proper entrance and to their row. 

“Sara, why don’t we let Felicity sit in the middle?” Quentin suggested, and Sara frowned a little but nodded. 

“Do you usually sit in the middle?” Felicity asked as they sat down.

“Yeah, but it’s okay.” Sara shrugged and leaned closer to Felicity to whisper. “Usually Pee Dragon is here, but she doesn’t like basketball so she just ruins everything and complains.”

Felicity giggled, covering her mouth a little. “How come you call Laurel Pee Dragon?”

Sara’s cheeks turned a little red as she considered telling Felicity her sister’s deepest, darkest secret. It took a moment, but Sara decided against explaining that Laurel had been a been wetter until she was ten. A small sigh escaped Sara’s lips as she shook her head, she’d have to wait a while before telling Felicity about Laurel. 

“It’s a secret.” Sara said. “I’ll tell you when you’re older.”

Felicity rolled her eyes at that, and Sara couldn’t help but smirk. 

“What’re you ladies talking about?” Quentin asked with a small smile. 

“How Laurel doesn’t like The Rockets.” Sara answered. 

Quentin sighed and leaned back in his seat. “Not everyone has to like what you like, Sara.”

Sara shrugged. She knew that, of course, but it just didn’t make sense to her why Laurel always came with them. Laurel liked to sit at home and read books, Sara didn’t understand why Quentin didn’t just leave her at home and let her sit. 

Before Quentin could speak again, it was time for the game to start. The crowd started cheering as the players were announced, Sara hopped onto her feet and started clapping as well, urging Felicity to do so as well. While, the younger girl seemed out of place, Sara was sure she’d have fun yelling at least. Everyone loved to yell inside and not get in trouble for doing it.

As usual, Sara squirmed during the National Anthem, but it wasn’t long before the players were actually playing. Sara watched happily as the Rockets managed to score within the first twenty seconds, she and Quentin yelled loudly with the rest of the crowd, but Felicity wasn’t as quick to do it and missed her chance. With a small, crooked smile, Sara put a hand on Felicity’s shoulder and patted it once.

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you what’s going on.” She said before noticing Quentin looking at her fondly. Sara furrowed her brow and ignored him. “It’s really fast, so it’s okay to be confused.”

“Thanks.” Felicity smiled, looking a little relieved.

Sara spent the rest of the game explaining everything to Felicity to the best of her ability, with Quentin’s help, of course. Usually Laurel was better at that kind of thing, but Sara was pretty sure that Felicity at least understood a couple things, and that was her goal. 

Luckily for everyone, The Rockets ended up winning, by a lot. Sara hated it when her team lost when she was there. As they left the arena, Quentin took Sara’s hand, and Felicity’s in his other. Sara pulled her father toward the exit, happily chattering about the game, only pausing when Felicity felt the need to interject, making Sara smile widely. 

“We should get milkshakes with our burgers!” Sara announced, clicking her seatbelt and grinning. 

“Milkshakes to celebrate?” Quentin laughed, glancing back at the girls to make sure they were buckled before starting the car. 

“Yeah!” Sara said, looking at Felicity. “It was Felicity’s first game, we gotta get milkshakes too! Right?”

Felicity nodded. “Yeah!”

“Well, I guess the majority rules here, huh?” Quentin said, smiling widely. “So, did you have fun, Felicity?”

“Yeah,” Felicity nodded. “I don’t really get basketball very good though.”

“It’s okay.” Sara said, looking out the window as Quentin pulled out of the parking garage. “It took forever for me and stupid Laurel to learn about basketball.”

“Sara.” Quentin warned, making Sara roll her eyes. 

“Sorry, Daddy.” Sara sighed, crossing her arms and puffing out her cheeks. 

“Why is Laurel stupid?” Felicity whispered after nearly half a minute of silence. 

“She just is.” Sara huffed, her arms still crossed.

“Oh...”

“You’re not stupid though. You figured out basketball real fast.”

“Thanks.”

Sara smiled a little. She actually kind of liked Felicity. 


	3. Chapter 3

Felicity walked through the halls of Starling City Elementary with her classmates on her way to recess, a couple of her classmates were chattering about their weekend plans ahead of her. With a smile, Felicity answered a couple of questions that they threw her way, telling them that she and her mother planned on getting together with Quentin, so she and his daughters were going to play at his house with the while they were going on a date. It was the first time Laurel would be allowed to be home alone, and Felicity was really excited to be able to hang out with the two older girls.

They didn’t see each other too often, usually her mother and Quentin preferred not to force her and the others together too much. Especially since there was an age difference, but Felicity really did like seeing the other two girls. Laurel always listened to what she had to say and seemed interested, and Sara, well Sara had warmed up to Felicity a lot since they’d gone to that basketball game four months ago. And since then, Felicity had turned nine, she was much more mature now, Sara and Laurel told her so. 

“Remember, Laurel’s in charge, okay?” Quentin said after seating all the girls on his living room sofa. “That means that you both have to listen to what Laurel says.”

“No fair.” Sara grumbled, crossing her arms and puffing out her cheeks. 

“Sara, you’ve gotta listen to Laurel like you listen to me.” Quentin said seriously, bending down to make eye contact with Sara, who laughed at the statement..

“Dad, make her listen to me better than she listens to you!” Laurel demanded, her cheeks turning a little red. 

“Sara...” Quentin gave Sara a look before straightening up and addressing the group. “I put all the numbers on the fridge, and labeled them, you know where the phone is. You can use the stove, but you need to remember to turn off the burner when you’re done, same goes for the oven.”

“It’s the weekend, so Felicity, you can stay up until Sara goes to bed tonight.” Donna said, smiling a little at Felicity. 

“And Sara, you know when you have to go to bed on the weekends.” Quentin said, looking at Laurel and Sara seriously. “The only reason Laurel gets to stay up is because she’s the boss for the night.”

Laurel smiled smugly at Sara and Felicity. 

“Don’t forget to call if anything happens.” Donna said. “And remember, no fires, no taking apart anything in the house-”

“-No running or fighting in the house.”

“-No using the phone unless it’s to call us.”

“-And especially not for pizza or anything else, we already brought food.” 

“-I mean it, Felicity, no taking apart anything.” Donna pointed at Felicity, who felt her cheeks turn red. 

“Got it, Mom.” Felicity nodded, earning strange looks from Sara and Laurel. 

“Do we all get it?” Quentin asked his daughters, who both nodded. “Good.” He smiled. “I love you both, be good, okay? And Laurel, if everything works out, we’ll see if we can leave you home alone more often.”

Laurel grinned widely and sat up a little straighter. 

“Be safe, ladies.” Donna said as she and Quentin went to get their coats.

“We’re trusting you three.” Quentin added, stepping toward the door. “Be safe. I love you.”

“I love you too, Daddy.” Sara called, hopping off the sofa to wave at her father. 

“I love you, Felicity.” Donna said as Quentin exited the house. “Be good, okay?”

“Okay, Mom, I love you too.” Felicity replied, smiling as her mother followed Quentin and closed the door.

Sara scrambled into the living room and grinned at Felicity and Laurel excitedly. “What’re we gonna do?!” 

After that, Laurel let Felicity and Sara eat the large pizza that their parents had gotten them. They didn’t really talk about anything in particular, choosing instead to loudly eat their food without using actual table manners. It was pretty cool, even when Laurel made Sara mad, so Sara hit Laurel with her slice of pizza. Felicity laughed so hard that that she was afraid that her milk was gonna come out her nose. 

“Why would you do that?!” Laurel gasped, wiping the pizza sauce off her cheek.

“Because you were being a jerk!” Sara grumbled. “Why can’t you just be normal for five minutes without making fun of me?”

“Because you’re so easy to make fun of.” Laurel replied with a tiny sneer. 

“Pee Dragon.” Sara hissed, earning a sharp glare from Laurel.

“Dad says you’re not supposed to call me that!” 

“Ya gonna call him? Then you won’t be able to be home alone ever again because you can’t go ten minutes without fighting!” Sara retorted triumphantly. “So there!”

Laurel’s face turned red and she looked at Felicity, who was trying her hardest not to make eye contact. “Fine.” She sighed, sitting back down at the table. “But if Dad finds out that we couldn’t get along, then he’ll keep having babysitters come over and we’ll never be able to do whatever we want ever again.”

Sara turned a pale color before moving toward the table and sitting back down. “Okay...”

It was times like these that made Felicity stop wishing that she had a sister, if it was anything like how Sara and Laurel were to each other, Felicity was happier alone. Felicity took a bite of her pizza and looked over at Sara, who was staring at the slice on her plate. She was probably wondering if she should eat the slice or throw it out because she’d just hit Laurel with it. 

After they finished eating, the girls moved to the living room and began to watch TV, Sara got to choose the show because she was the fastest and was able to dive on the remote first. So they sat there, watching old episodes of  _ Rocko’s Modern Life. _ Laurel grumbled about how stupid it was for them to be watching such a dumb show for little kids, but sat there on the sofa anyway. Felicity was more quiet about how well she actually liked the show, it was funny. 

“Your mom has been dating my dad for a while.” Sara said from her spot in the middle of the floor before flopping onto her back and looking at Felicity. 

“I guess.” Felicity shrugged. 

“Do you think they’re gonna get married?” Sara asked, earning a glare from Laurel. 

“I don’t know.” Felicity replied, furrowing her brow. “Do you think they will?”

Sara frowned a little. “I don’t know...” She looked at Laurel. “What do you think?”

“Sara, shut up.” Laurel grumbled. 

“Why?” Sara asked. 

“Because I said so!” 

Sara’s face turned bright red and she glared at Laurel before sitting up and looking back at the TV. 

Felicity glanced over to Laurel, who seemed to notice.

“Ignore Sara.” Laurel leaned over and whispered in Felicity’s ear.“If our parents are gonna get married, we’ll be the first ones to know.” 

“Okay.” Felicity smiled a little. “I kinda hope they do... I like your dad... he’s funny.”

Laurel grinned a little and looked over at Sara, who wasn’t paying much attention. “Your mom is really nice.”

* * *

The drive home was quiet, Felicity was tired and her eyelids were drooping. She kept trying to blink herself awake, it was rare for her to be up this late, and she was going to stay up as long as she could. Her mother seemed to notice, and smiled at her in the rearview mirror. Felicity smiled back at her and yawned.

“Did you have fun with Sara and Laurel?” Donna asked, making Felicity perk up. 

“Yeah,” Felicity nodded. “We watched TV and ate pizza.”

“Now that’s an eventful night.” Donna laughed as she pulled up to a red light and turned to look at Felicity. “Was that all that happened?”

Felicity shrugged. “We talked.”

“About what?”

“Stuff.” Felicity said. “Sara called Laurel Pee Dragon again, but you can’t tell their dad because he hates it when she does that.”

“My lips are sealed.”

“And we talked about school and Sara talked about her dance class and soccer.” Felicity continued. “And we watched Rocket and fed him some egg, canaries are allowed to eat eggs.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Me neither.”

Felicity took a deep breath and looked at her mother, who had turned to face forward when the light turned green. “Sara said some stuff too, and I can’t stop thinking about it...”

“What is it?” Donna looked concerned. “Was she mean to you?”

Felicity shook her head. Sara and Laurel were always mean to each other, but they weren’t mean to her. They were always nice to her. “No, she just asked me something.”

“What was it?”

“She asked if you and Quentin were gonna get married.”

Donna’s eyes widened and she stopped abruptly as she pulled into the driveway. “Oh...”

“Are you gonna get married?”

“Honey, if Quentin and I decide to get married, you girls will be the first to know.”

“Okay.” Felicity nodded, frowning a little. 

“What’s wrong?” Donna asked.

“I dunno.” She really didn’t know. It wasn’t like her mother had just told her that she and Quentin weren’t ever going to get married. Or that they were breaking up. So why was she so upset?

“Wanna know a secret?” Donna smiled, turning off the car and looking Felicity in the eye. 

Felicity nodded and grinned. 

“Quentin and I are getting very serious. And I really do think we might get married someday.” Donna said with a wink. “But you can’t tell anyone yet, okay?”

“Got it!” 

“Good. Now it’s late, so let’s get you to bed, okay?”

Felicity groaned loudly.

* * *

Sara and Laurel went to their mother’s house for spring break, which meant that Felicity had to spend time with her babysitter instead of with the other two girls. She spent a lot of time with her mother and Quentin as well, they took her to the park and to the movies. Felicity thoroughly enjoyed it all, especially when they went to the movies.

“How come Sara and Laurel are gone?” Felicity asked one night when they were all having dinner. 

“Well, their mother lives in Central City.” Quentin said in a practiced way, like he’d explained this many times before. “Which is out of our state, so it’s hard to get the girls over there sometimes. She’s so far away that we can’t get them over to her house all the time for visits and stuff, you know? So the girls go visit her for some school breaks.”

“Are they gonna be gone this summer?” Felicity frowned a little at the prospect of not seeing the other two for three whole months. 

“Not the whole summer.” Quentin replied with a smile. “More like half. And they’re gonna spend this thanksgiving here, but Christmas with their mom. We switch that every year, though.”

“So, they spent this Christmas with you?” Felicity asked. 

“Yeah, they did.” Quentin nodded. 

“Do you miss them, Sweetie?” Donna asked, making Felicity’s cheeks turn red. 

“No.” She lied, furrowing her brow. 

“It’s okay if you do.” Donna said with a smile. “I miss them too.”

Felicity shared a disbelief with Quentin and took a bite of her spaghetti. 

“I do!” Donna exclaimed. “They’re sweet girls!” She looked directly at Felicity. “And they’re sweet to my girl.”

Felicity frowned a little at that. 

“Well at least they’re sweet to someone at this table.” Quentin said with a laugh, looking over at Felicity. “But if it had to be one of us, so I’m glad it’s you.”

Felicity’s cheeks turned red. 

“You know, I think we should bake them a welcome home cake for when they get back.” Donna said.

“Sara likes chocolate.” Felicity said through a mouthful of spaghetti.

“I think you two are just always looking for an excuse to bake a cake.” Quentin teased before taking a big bite of his garlic bread. 

“Are you telling me that Sara and Laurel wouldn’t be excited to come home and see a big welcome home cake waiting for them?” Donna raised an eyebrow.

Quentin rolled his eyes good naturedly. “All right, you’ve got me.”

“So we’re gonna bake a cake?!” Felicity grinned. 

“I mean, I guess.” Quentin shrugged, trying to sound exasperated. 

Donna smiled. “So we’re making a chocolate cake? Will Laurel like that?”

“Laurel likes cake. Period.” Quentin replied. “She’ll eat any sweets.”

* * *

Felicity couldn’t help the excited squeal that left her mouth when she, her mother, and Quentin went to the airport together to pick up Laurel and Sara. She’d never been to the airport before, and honestly it was pretty confusing. All the people wandering around the airport, pushing and shoving, it made Felicity thankful that she was holding her mother’s hand. She definitely would’ve gotten lost.

“How do you know we’re even gonna find ‘em?” Felicity asked with a frown as she looked through the crowds of people. 

“I’ve done this a lot of times.” Quentin said, smiling a little as he led Felicity and her mother toward another part of the airport. “I know where to find them, don’t worry.”

“Do you think they missed me?” 

“I’m sure they did.” Donna smiled. 

They waited for nearly ten minutes before Quentin pointed toward some of the doors. Felicity followed his finger with her eyes and grinned widely when she saw Laurel and Sara being led through a pair of double doors by a security guard. Quentin led Felicity and Donna to the station that Sara and Laurel were taken and showed his ID to the guard before bending down and hugging his daughters. 

“Hey, strangers.” Quentin said, pulling back and kissing each of their foreheads. “Look who I brought.”

Felicity waved hello to the other two girls while her mother greeted them both happily.

“Hi!” Sara smiled widely and ran over to hug Felicity. “Central City was soooo fun!” She said, moving so Laurel could offer a small wave. 

Quentin grabbed the girls’ bags and they made their way out of the airport, all the while, Sara and Laurel were chattering about their spring break. Felicity listened to their stories with a smile, only feeling a little jealous that they had so much fun without her, but it was still good to see them. Donna had asked them a few questions, getting enthusiastic replies from Sara, which earned small corrections from Laurel. 

“Well, that sounds like a lot.” Donna said as they got to the car. 

“Mom says that we have to do a lot of stuff because we don’t see each other as much as we used to.” Laurel shrugged, climbing into the back seat. 

“Oh wow.” Felicity said, sitting beside Laurel in the middle seat before Sara plopped down next to her. “So your mom just does whatever you want?”

Sara laughed loudly. “Not a chance.”

Laurel rolled her eyes. “Shut up, Sara.”

This sparked an argument that would last the entire car ride.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for very, very minor gore. It's really just a blanket description of an injury.

After being together for nearly three years, it was easy to decide that the next logical step was moving in together. Donna was actually relatively surprised by how easy it was for Quentin to bring it up, and even for Donna to agree. They’d brought it up a few times casually or as a joke, but when Quentin was truly serious, it was hard to think of a reason not to. Not that she was looking for one.

It was relatively easy to move into Quentin’s house. Laurel had vehemently opposed sharing a room, claiming that at fourteen she was too old to be sharing a room with a ten year old and that she already shared a room with Sara at their mother’s house in Central City. Sara, however, was excited to be sharing a room with Felicity. Though, Donna was sure that Sara was more excited about Quentin telling them that Sara and Laurel had to change rooms, since Laurel’s was a little bigger and would fit the other two better. 

“Can we paint our room, Daddy?” Sara asked excitedly, as she sat with Rocket in the living room. “Like one color on each side so we know whose side is whose?”

“I’ll think about it, Sweetie.” Quentin said absentmindedly, not looking up from the assembly instructions for Felicity’s dresser and counted his number of screws. “But not anytime soon.” 

Sara let out an irritated sigh and flopped backward into her seat. 

“Don’t worry, Sara, I’m sure we’ll find some way to decorate your room.” Donna smiled putting a hand on Sara’s shoulder. “Maybe when we get you guys all moved in, I’ll take you to go get some new posters.”

Sara lit up a little, but tried not to show it. 

“All my stuff is in Sara’s room now.” Laurel announced as she entered the living room.

“You mean your room.” Sara corrected with a small smirk. 

“Shut up.” Laurel sighed, looking over Quentin’s shoulder. “You’re counting the one in your hand, right?”

Quentin dropped the other screw and then looked up at Laurel, forcing a smile. “Thank you, Sweetie.” 

“So we do actually have all the pieces, then?” Donna asked, sitting beside Quentin. 

“Yes.” Quentin said sheepishly before standing up. “Let’s get this dresser built.”

“Then we can paint my new room.” Sara said pointedly, earning a withering look from Quentin. 

“Shut up, Sara.” Laurel grumbled. 

Quentin sighed. “That’s enough, ladies.” He said, pointing at the both of them. “Can you please at least pretend to get along, at least until Sara and Felicity’s room is set up?”

The two girls rolled their eyes before offering their father two obviously fake smiles. 

“That’s better.” Quentin nodded his approval and headed toward the stairs. “Does Felicity have all her clothes together?”

“I do!” Felicity called from the bedroom. 

“I think she does.” Donna replied, following Quentin up to Felicity and Sara’s room. “I’ll help you finish the dresser.”

They entered the girls’ shared bedroom to see Felicity sitting on her bed, surrounded by piles of her poorly folded clothes. Donna smiled a little at her daughter’s attempt at folding her clothes, though in the back of her mind, she knew that it would bother her until she refolded it. Felicity looked up from her clothes, looking mildly irritated. Which Donna understood, she’d be irritated too if she had to wait an extra hour for her dresser to be built. 

“Sorry for the wait, kiddo.” Quentin said as he started to mess with the husk that was to be Felicity’s dresser. “But we’ve got all the parts and we’re ready to finish it up.”

“Finally.” Felicity sighed, flopping onto her back. “Sara kept saying that we were gonna have to keep my clothes as carpeting and use them as a nest to sleep on.”

Donna frowned a little and shared a look with Quentin, who merely shrugged. “Why wouldn’t you just sleep on your beds?”

Felicity’s brow furrowed. “I never asked that.” 

Quentin laughed a little and held his hand out for a screwdriver, which Donna was happy to supply. “So, are you excited to bunk with Sara?”

“Yeah,” Felicity sat up with a small smile. “Sara’s pretty cool and she let me choose which side of the room my bed went on.”

“Well, Sara lives to please.” Quentin rolled his eyes as he got a couple of the drawers to actually stay intact, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “She’s definitely a giver.”

“Sara says that if any of the older kids bother me when I get to middle school, she’ll literally kill them.” Felicity said, obviously attempting to defend Sara. 

“Literally?” Donna asked, smiling a little.

“Literally.” Felicity replied seriously. 

“Okay. That’s... That’s horrifying.”

* * *

“Remember that you and Sara have to have the blinds closed at night.” Laurel had said to Felicity when Donna entered the living room.

“How come?” Felicity asked as Donna sat beside her on the sofa.

“Teddy from across the street likes to look into people’s windows at night.” Laurel replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “You have to close your blinds or he looks in with his binoculars that he’s supposed to use for ‘birdwatching.’”

“Oh...” Donna frowned, looking over to Felicity. “Please shut your blinds at night.”

“Don’t worry, Mom.” Felicity rolled her eyes. “Sara’s over at his house right now.”

Donna’s jaw dropped and she furrowed her brow. “Why?”

“She said she’s either gonna break his binoculars or give him five dollars to stop looking at our house.” Laurel shrugged. “That’s what I gave him when it was my bedroom.”

“Did it ever occur to any of you to talk to Quentin about this?” Donna asked, watching as both girls looked at her quizzically. “Since he’s a police officer. And peeping is a crime.”

“Oh...” Felicity frowned and looked at Laurel. “That’s a good idea.”

“I should go get Sara.” Laurel said, standing up and heading out the door. 

“I like it here.” Felicity said to Donna as the front door shut. 

Donna stared at Felicity for a moment before leaning over and kissing the top of her head. “I’m glad you’re happy, sweetie.”

Felicity smiled widely.

* * *

Quentin had a bad habit of working late, something that Laurel and Sara were used to. Part of Donna felt bad for them, being used to their father being gone all night must be hard for them. But the two girls didn’t seem too upset by it, though. In fact, they seemed to be perfectly fine with their situation, but that didn’t stop Donna from feeling sympathetic toward them.

“I put Dad’s plate in the fridge,” Laurel announced, sitting on the sofa next to Sara. 

“Good job.” Sara rolled her eyes and slouched further into the sofa. 

“You’re the worst.” Laurel said matter-of-factly. 

“That hurts.” Sara replied in a monotone. “Right in my heart. How will I ever go on?”

Donna didn’t know whether or not to intervene, to be honest, she wasn’t even sure if this was an argument or just another one of the ways they communicate. 

“Mom, how come Quentin’s late again?” Felicity asked from her spot beside Sara. 

“He’s catching up on a lot of work.” Donna said, sending Felicity a small smile. 

“Yeah, he’s hunting murderers and drug dealers.” Sara grinned, sitting up a little. “He’s gotta squeeze a confession out of him then send him to rot in jail.”

“Or maybe he’s got a lot of paperwork to do.” Donna sighed, earning frowns from Sara and Felicity. 

Sara groaned. “That’s so boring.”

“Yeah.” Felicity nodded. 

“I bet he’s really in a car chase!” Sara exclaimed, hopping to her feet and keeping eye contact with Felicity. “And he’s firing one gun out the window at the bad guy!”

“And they’re weaving in and out of traffic!” Felicity added excitedly. 

“Yeah!” Sara fist bumped and Felicity climbed off the sofa, bouncing excitedly. “And they hit a ramp and get right next to the guy!”

“Yes!” With that, Donna watched the two girls run up the stairs, continuing to talk about the kind danger Quentin was in. 

“If Dad got into a car race, it’d totally be on the news.” Laurel said, not looking up from her book.

“I’d hope so, it’d definitely be more interesting than what they’re talking about now.” Donna smiled a little, earning a small laugh from Laurel. 

“Yeah.”

“How was your history test?” 

“It was all right, I hate learning about The Great Depression. I’m still not even sure how the stock market works.”

Donna frowned a little bit. “Most people don’t...”

Laurel’s brow furrowed and she looked at Donna for a long time. “What even are stocks?”

* * *

“Fourth of July is coming up.” Quentin said two weeks before the actual holiday.

Donna nodded, looking up from Felicity’s homework that she was checking. “And you want to plan something fun to do?”

Quentin grinned and sat down at the dining room table. “Well, I was thinking that we could go camping.”

“Camping?” Donna repeated, raising her eyebrows. 

“Camping.” Quentin confirmed, his smile widening a little. “Sara’s been begging me to take her camping ever since she saw that old Parent Trap movie. And now Felicity’s asking about it too.”

“What about Laurel?” Donna asked, thinking about what Quentin’s oldest daughter would have to say about spending a weekend in the woods. 

“Laurel will probably like having a new experience.” Quentin shrugged. “Besides, it’s only a weekend, if they hate it, we’ll never have to go again.”

Donna smiled, she had never taken Felicity camping, and it really did seem like a good way to bond with everyone. “Well, it might be fun.”

“And the campground that I was looking at does fireworks on the Fourth. Which is a Saturday, by the way.”

“Seems like you’ve planned this out.”

“Maybe a little.” 

Telling the kids that they were going camping was easy enough, the girls immediately started to chatter excitedly and make plans for what they were going to do during the trip. Laurel had even gone up to her bedroom to pack her bags, that is until Quentin told her that they wouldn’t be leaving for another couple weeks. Donna smiled at the way Felicity bounced around excitedly, rambling to Sara about how much fun they were going to have.

“We’re gonna be able to catch fireflies and eat hot dogs from a fire!” Felicity squealed, hopping up and down a little. 

“There’s a lake to swim in too.” Quentin supplied, making Felicity let out another shriek. 

“We can go fishing!” Felicity turned to look at Donna, her eyes sparkling a little. “Mom! We’ve gotta go fishing!”

“We can certainly try.” Donna grinned, earning another squeal. 

“Are we going to be in cabins, or tents on the floor!?” Sara asked Quentin, earning confused looks from her sister and father. 

“It’s called the ground when it’s outside.” Laurel sighed, looking at Sara tiredly. 

“You knew what I was talking about.” Sara replied.

“We’re gonna be in tents, Sweetie.” Quentin said, effectively stopping what would have been one of the silliest fights that Donna had witnessed those girls get into. 

* * *

Donna smiled at Quentin as they drove to the campground, the girls were in the backseat and quiet for the most part. It could possibly be due to the fact that Felicity was sitting in the middle and Sara had fallen asleep within twenty minutes of driving. Quentin seemed relieved by this and returned the grin.

“I’m actually pretty excited.” Donna said quietly, glancing at the forest they were driving through. “This is gonna be fun.”

“I think so too.” Quentin nodded, turning down a narrow, dirt road and toward a small office building. 

“Dad, are we there yet?” Laurel asked as Quentin pulled into a parking spot near the door. 

“I just need to check into the main office.” Quentin put the car in park and climbed out of the car. “I’ll be back in a couple minutes.” He said before closing the door.

“Can I wake up Sara, Mom?” Felicity asked, whining slightly.

Donna turned in her seat to see that Sara was leaning her head on Felicity’s shoulder and had taken up most of her seat, forcing Laurel and Felicity to squeeze together tightly. “Yeah, Sweetie, you can wake her up.”

“Good, she’s been snoring in my ear.” Felicity grumbled, shaking her shoulder and jostling Sara awake. 

Sara jolted up and blinked a few times before looking over at Felicity.

“Did you sleep well?” Donna asked offering the girl a small smile.

“Fine.” Sara replied, looking around. “Are we here?”

“We will be in a few minutes,” Laurel rolled her eyes and leaned over Felicity’s lap, shoving Sara over. “Now move so we don’t have to cram.”

“Sorry.” Sara yawned, moving over without a fight and stretching a little. “I didn’t drool did I?”

Felicity checked her shoulder and offered Sara a thumbs up. “You’re okay.” She smiled. “But you talked a little.”

“What do you even dream about?” Laurel asked, sounding irritated. 

Sara shrugged. 

“Are you ladies excited?” Donna asked, earning two smiles and a nod from Laurel. 

“Are we gonna have to hunt and fish for dinner or else we don’t eat?” Felicity asked with an inappropriate amount of excitement for the question she’d just asked. 

“No, Sweetie, we packed food.” Donna sighed, frowning a little at the disappointed looks on Sara and Felicity’s faces. 

“Good.” Laurel said. “Sara’s too loud. She’d scare away all the fish.”

“Would not!” Sara growled, leaning over Felicity’s lap to punch Laurel in the leg.

“Hey!” Donna frowned. “That’s enough of that. You know your dad hates it when you both fight. And you shouldn’t be hitting, Sara.”

“Fine.” Sara sent Donna a dirty look and fell back in her seat just as Quentin made it back to the car. 

“All right, girls,” Quentin said, climbing into his seat. “Let’s get to our spot.”

“YES!” Felicity cheered, throwing her arms in the air. “This is gonna be so great!”

“That’s what I wanna hear.” Quentin grinned, putting the car in gear and heading toward a dirt trail. 

Setting up camp was easier than Donna had thought it would be. Especially since Quentin did most of the knot tying or hammering, while Donna and Felicity made the firepit. Laurel and Sara were even getting along while they found firewood, though Donna did see them start throwing sticks at each other a couple times. They seemed to settle whatever little disputes they’d had by themselves, though. So there was that. 

“Are me, Laurel, and Felicity sharing a tent?” Sara asked when she dropped a large pile of wood next to the firepit. 

“Yes.” Quentin nodded, handing Sara and Felicity each a sleeping bag while Laurel grabbed her own. “And Felicity has to sleep in the middle.”

“How come!?” Felicity whined, sending Quentin a tiny glare. 

“Because I’m afraid that the other two will kill each other.” Quentin replied, sending his daughters a tired look.

Laurel wrinkled her nose and looked at her sleeping bag. “Did you want purple?” She asked Felicity. “Cause if you do, I’ll trade.”

“That’s okay, I like blue too.” Felicity smiled. 

“Get your bags in the tent and we’ll see about fishing or a hike.” Quentin clapped his hands together and smiled. 

“I wanna find a bear and I want you to wrestle it, Daddy!” Sara exclaimed, throwing her bag into the tent haphazardly. “Did you bring your gun!?”

“No.” Quentin frowned. “Why would I bring my gun?”

“What if a bear attacks?” Sara asked smugly. 

“Seriously, Sara?” Quentin sent Donna a pleading look and a frown.

“Sweetie, there are so many people camping out here, a bear wouldn’t come near us.” Donna sighed, putting a hand on Sara’s shoulder. 

Sara looked disappointed, much to Donna’s confusion. 

“Can we go on a hike?” Felicity asked after she and Laurel had put their bags away and closed the tent. “We can look at the lake and take pictures of birds! And we’ll climb the rocks and trees! And-”

“And then we can swim in the lake.” Laurel grinned, shouldering her backpack.

“That sounds like a plan.” Donna smiled, looking at Quentin. “How about you lead, and I’ll take up the rear?”

“Sounds good.” Quentin nodded and picked up his backpack. “Let’s hit the trail.” 

Apparently hiking seemed to be more exciting for the girls in theory than in execution. After only ten minutes, Sara started to complain, which caused Felicity to complain, which caused Laurel to start a fight with Sara. Eventually they had to take a break for Quentin to discipline the two girls while Donna and Felicity stood by. Felicity took that time to tell Donna that her legs hurt and that she was tired already.

“Mom, we have to walk the same way back!” Felicity whined when they got started again. “My legs hurt.”

“This is bo-oring.” Sara groaned, throwing her head back. “Can’t we just go back to camp and kill some fish?”

“Like you’d be able to catch a fish.” Laurel sneered. 

“That’s enough, Laurel.” Quentin said calmly, turning to look at his daughter. “Now we have about five more minutes, then we can rest and have lunch.”

“So why don’t we try and make the most of it?” Donna smiled at Felicity. “Honey, do you see any birds or squirrels?”

“I saw a woodpecker a little bit ago, but I didn’t wanna say anything.” Felicity replied. 

“How come?” Sara asked, turning to look at her. 

“It looked really happy. I didn’t wanna scare it.” Felicity shrugged. 

Sara smiled fondly at Felicity and sped up. “Hey Laurel! Felicity saw a woodpecker, good thing it didn’t get your head!”

“Sara!” Quentin exclaimed angrily. “That’s enough!”

“I can’t help but think of good insults with all my blood pumping from this exercising I’m doing!” Sara argued back. 

“Stop being mean to your sister or you’ll be grounded when we get home.” Quentin said firmly. 

Sara groaned and Laurel laughed loudly. 

“Same goes for you, Laurel.” Quentin added, only to send Felicity a smile. “Keep doing what you’re doing, Squirt.”

Felicity grinned and looked at Donna happily. “I’m not doing anything wrong!” She whispered. 

“I know.” Donna mouthed with a nod. 

They hiked mostly in silence until they made it to the clearing that Quentin had found on the map. It was partially surrounded by trees and tall rocks and overlooked the lake. Quentin set his backpack down on one of the rocks and pulled out five sandwiches, each labelled with one of their names on it. Laurel handed Felicity her sandwich and sat down under the thickest tree before starting to eat her own, only to be joined by Felicity. 

“Did you label each sandwich even though they’re all the same?” Donna asked, sitting beside Quentin on one of the shorter rocks. 

“Yeah, well, having things labelled makes Laurel happy.” Quentin smiled, taking a bite of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. 

“And a good PB and J makes Sara happy.” Donna added, earning a laugh from Quentin. 

“That’s true.” Quentin nodded, leaning back and looking at the girls, who were silently eating and looking mildly miserable. “Maybe the hike wasn’t the best idea.”

“We all thought it was gonna be more fun than it was.” Donna shrugged, smiling at Quentin. “How could we have known that our daughters would complain the whole time?”

“Maybe we should have snuck away and let them argue and throw sticks at each other.” Quentin sighed.

“Now that sounds like a good weekend.” Donna laughed.

They chatted idly for a little while until Donna heard Laurel yell something out. She looked over at the girls just in time to see Sara slip and fall off one of the taller rocks, landing with a sickening, wet crack. Quentin sprang to action faster than Donna had ever seen him and ran over to Sara, kneeling down in front of her. 

Sara had tears rolling down her cheeks and her face was bright red, she had pulled her right knee toward her chest and was holding it close. Quentin was trying to convince Sara to let him see her leg, but with little avail. With every attempt to get Sara to show him her leg, Sara’s whimpering increased and she pulled her leg closer. 

“Sara, we need to see if it’s broken.” Quentin said seriously, gently putting his hand on her knee. 

Sara shook her head and let out a tiny wail when Quentin touched her shin. 

“Let me try.” Donna murmurer, kneeling down beside Sara. “You go talk to Laurel and Felicity.”

Quentin nodded. “I need you to try and cooperate with Donna, okay?” He said before moving to where Laurel and Felicity were. 

“Sara,” Donna said gently, moving to roll up Sara’s pant leg. “I need to look at your leg, okay?”

“No.” Sara shook her head. “It hurts.”

“The sooner we look at your leg, the sooner we can fix it.” Donna replied, gently looking over the leg and frowning deeply. 

Sara’s shin was an ugly shade of purple and had already swelled up. With a tiny whimper, Sara closed her eyes and turned her head away from her leg, Donna didn’t blame her. As gently as she could, Donna set Sara’s leg in her lap and breathed out a sigh. Sara’s leg was most likely broken. 

“Quentin.” Donna called over her shoulder. “Can you come here for a second?” She tried to keep her voice light, to keep the girls calm. 

“It’s broken, isn’t it?” Quentin whispered, looking at the bruised leg. 

Donna nodded slightly. “We have to get her to the hospital.”

Quentin was silent and glanced back at the girls. “We could drive the car back to the office and call an ambulance.”

“That’s a good idea.” Donna sighed, looking over at Sara. “How are we going to get her to the car?” 

“I could carry her.” Quentin replied, looking over to where Felicity and Laurel were gathered, both watching them worriedly. “But would you and the girls be able to keep up?”

“I think so.” Donna sighed. “You’ll have to walk carefully.” 

“Yeah.” Quentin nodded and smiled at Sara, speaking at full volume. “Sweetie, I’m gonna carry you down to the car.” 

“Okay, Daddy.” Sara said, looking at Quentin and sniffling. “My leg doesn’t hurt so bad now. Do you think that we can just keep camping?”

“Sorry, Sweetie.” Quentin shook his head. “But we’ve gotta go to the hospital. I have a feeling that you’re gonna need a doctor.”

Sara let out a little laugh and wiped at her cheeks. “Okay. Pick me up.” 

Donna smiled a little and moved out of the way so that Quentin could pick Sara up. “I’m sorry your first camping trip didn’t work out, Sara.”

Sara shrugged and put her arms around Quentin’s neck and burying her face into his shoulder. “It’s okay. Hiking sucks.”

Quentin laughed a little and looked over at Laurel and Felicity. “Okay, ladies. We’re gonna head back to the car, okay?” 

Laurel nodded, taking Felicity’s hand in her own. “Is Sara gonna be okay?”

“Of course she is.” Donna replied, grabbing Quentin’s backpack. 

“No I’m not, Laurel!” Sara called from Quentin’s arms. “Your stupid banshee scream made me fall off that rock and now my leg my leg is broke! You’re not my sister anymore!” She paused and glared at Laurel. “Felicity, you’ve been upgraded to sister status. Now we can share clothes.”

“Sara, that’s enough.” Quentin said, turning to the others. “Let’s go, guys.”

Donna sighed and moved next to Laurel before they all started walking back down the path. “It’s not your fault.”

Laurel shook her head and looked close to tears. “It  _ is  _ my fault, though. Sara tried to take a picture of the lake and I yelled at her to get down and she slipped.” She sniffled and wiped her eyes. “If I didn’t yell at her, she wouldn’t have fallen.”

“Oh Honey.” Donna put her arm around Laurel’s shoulders. “Sara falls down the stairs twice a week. Your yelling didn’t do anything.”

“Will Sara have to wear a cast?” Felicity asked, looking at Donna with wide, teary eyes. 

“Probably, Sweetie.” Donna said. “But you’ll get to sign it.”

“Laurel can’t sign my cast!” Sara shouted, making Quentin flinch. 

“It’s not my fault you fell!” Laurel yelled back, trying to hold back tears. 

“You still can’t sign my cast!” Sara snapped. 

“That’s enough.” Quentin grumbled. “Sara, you need to stop squirming or you’ll hurt your leg worse.”

“Well if it falls off, then it’s Laurel’s fault too!” Sara let out a little yelp before righting herself. 

“It’s not your fault.” Felicity mumbled, squeezing Laurel’s hand. “She’s just mad because her leg hurts.”

“Felicity’s right. She’ll get over it.” Donna said, offering a small smile. She was definitely lying through her teeth. 

It took fifteen minutes to walk back to the campsite, which they promptly abandoned to drive down to the office as fast as they could. Quentin sat in the backseat beside Felicity with Sara’s legs in his lap, while Donna and Laurel were up front. Donna drove as quickly as she could without hitting any bumps that were too big, she actually made pretty good time considering everything that was happening. 

After they called 911, the ambulance came much faster than Donna had expected them to. Then again, Quentin introduced himself as “Detective Quentin Lance, SCPD” before telling the dispatcher about Sara’s leg. Donna and the other two followed behind the ambulance, while Quentin rode in the back with Sara, who was being uncharacteristically calm during the whole ordeal. 

* * *

“I know, Dinah.” Quentin said into the phone. “Yeah, she’s not too thrilled either. Especially since she’s gonna end up with a cast for probably the rest of the summer.”

Sara let out a loud groan and threw her head back into the pillows. 

“Sorry, Sweetie.” Donna smiled, patting Sara’s shoulder. “I know this is hard.”

Sara scoffed. “At least I don’t have to sleep on the dirt with Laurel.” 

“And we won’t get eaten by bugs.” Laurel supplied, she was sitting in Sara’s bed with her, an arm thrown over Sara’s shoulders. “Thanks for taking one for the team, Sis.” 

“Your dad didn’t even bring his gun. What if a bear attacked?” Felicity asked from her seat beside Sara’s bed.

Donna laughed a little. “Maybe next year we can just barbeque in the backyard.” 

“That sounds better.” Sara nodded, looking over to Quentin. “Is Mom mad?”

“She’s not thrilled, Sweetie.” Quentin frowned, putting his hand over the receiver. 

“Sorry, Daddy.”

Quentin laughed and began speaking to his ex wife again. 

Sara, Laurel, and Felicity began to come up with incredibly outlandish scenarios to make up for Sara breaking her leg. It was a lucky break, or so the doctor had said. She had a hairline fracture in her tibia and would probably heal in six weeks. It wasn’t the best news, but it was nice to have a doctor tell Sara that she definitely was going to walk again despite how convincing she’d sounded when she was shouting at Laurel. 

“At least now with your leg broken, Mom won’t be able to make us go on another walking museum tour when we go to her house.” Laurel said after a few minutes.

* * *

“I still feel bad about Sara having to spend her whole visit with her mom in a cast.” Quentin said with a sigh as he and Donna drank their morning coffee.

“Well, she seems to be adjusting well.” Donna replied with a smile, remembering how Sara had claimed that once her leg was healed, it would be indestructible. “I just hope Laurel’s feeling better.”

“She’s fine.” Quentin shrugged. “She and Sara bounce back pretty well.”

“I can see that.” Donna laughed. “And that was the understatement of the century.”

They were quiet for a few minutes, it was refreshing to not hear arguments or sitcoms for preteens in the background. Even Sara’s annoying bird was quiet for once in its life. With Felicity at a friend’s house until Donna had to pick her up at noon, everything was peaceful for the first time in a while. Donna’s smile widened a little as she sipped her coffee. 

“Ya know, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.” Quentin said after a little while. 

“Hmm?” Donna looked at him, confused. 

“Do you want to marry me?”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'm back finally. New and improved with regular updates. Enjoy this new chapter full of fluff.

Unlike her sister, Laurel Lance did not fall asleep while travelling. In fact, it was almost the opposite, Laurel just couldn’t sleep when she was in a vehicle. Usually, it didn’t bother her, but when she sat on an airplane beside her snoring sister, it certainly seemed like a better alternative to an hour and a half of boredom. Luckily, Laurel had a book with her, though from what she’d read, it wasn’t a good book.

“You don’t know what’s out there.” Sara had mumbled in her sleep nearly an hour into the flight, making Laurel look up. 

“What?” Laurel whispered to herself and glared at Sara. There was no way that she was going to be listening to Sara mutter in her sleep for the rest of the ride. 

Laurel leaned over and flicked Sara’s nose, before settling back and watching as Sara jolted up. 

“Wha?” Sara sat up straighter and looked around, blinking a little in the lights of the plane. “Did you wake me up?”

Laurel let out an exaggerated sigh and rolled her eyes. “Why would I want to wake you up? To talk to you? I don’t think so.”

Sara squinted at Laurel for a moment and let out a yawn. “Are we almost there yet?”

Laurel looked at the watch that Quentin had gotten her for Christmas. “We’ve been flying for almost an hour.”

Sara groaned and flopped back into her seat. “This sucks.” 

“Yep.” Laurel looked back at her book. 

“What’s your book about?” Sara asked, turning and leaning over Laurel’s shoulder to try and get a look at the book. 

Laurel rolled her eyes. “I’m not gonna spend the rest of the flight telling you about a book.”

“Come on!” Sara whined, wrapping her arms around Laurel’s shoulders. “My leg itches and I couldn’t sleep and if you don’t tell me, I’ll just keep complaining.” 

“What else is new?” Laurel sighed, flipping to the beginning of the book. “It’s not even that good a story.”

Sara shrugged and rested her head on Laurel’s shoulder. “That doesn’t matter.”

Laurel laughed a little and began to tell Sara about the book she was reading. Despite rarely listening when people talked and not being able to focus on the pages of a book, Sara was actually pretty good at following a story when Laurel told her it. A smile had formed on Laurel’s face when Sara started to ask more in depth questions about the characters and plot, she even went far enough to make predictions for the story. She was completely wrong, but Laurel appreciated the effort a little, and if she were being honest, she would’ve preferred it if the story had taken the turn that Sara had hoped for.

After deciding to tell Sara all about her book, time seemed to fly for Laurel, and after what seemed to be only a few minutes, they were told to buckle up for landing. Laurel sighed and leaned over to help Sara out of habit, only to get her hands slapped away. Sara sent Laurel a confused look as she buckled herself, making Laurel’s cheeks turn red. It had been a while since Laurel had to help Sara buckle, so she didn’t know why she’d just tried to help. 

“Sorry.” Laurel mumbled, putting her hands in her lap. 

“It’s okay.” Sara shrugged, offering Laurel a tiny smile. “But I  _ can  _ buckle up by myself now, I’m not eight anymore.”

Laurel sighed. “I’ll try to remember that from now on.”

Sara smiled and adjusted her leg into a more comfortable position. 

“How’s your leg?” Laurel asked, looking down at the bright orange cast on her sister’s leg. “Does it hurt?”

“Not too much.” Sara replied airily, smiling a little. “It mostly just itches, but sometimes it’s hard to sleep if I don’t get it in the right position...” Sara looked at Laurel suspiciously. “Why do you care though?”

“Just wondering.” Laurel said, biting her lip. She knew that it wasn’t really her fault that Sara had fallen off that rock a week and a half ago, but she still couldn’t shake that guilty feeling she had in her gut every time she saw that bright orange cast or heard Sara clunkily climbing up and down the stairs. 

“Oh.” Sara’s brow furrowed for a moment. “It itches a lot.” 

When the plane finally landed, Laurel and Sara headed to their designated pickup area to wait for Dinah. According to the clock, the plane had been about thirty minutes ahead of schedule. Luckily, the security guard, Jerry, who had sat with them a couple times, allowed Laurel to call their mother. When Laurel reached her mother’s answering machine, she was pretty optimistic. 

“I got the answering machine, I think Mom’s on her way.” Laurel said, sitting beside Sara and pulling out her book. 

“How does it end?” Sara asked, pointing at the book. 

“I don’t know, I haven’t finished it.” Laurel shrugged, opening up to her bookmark. “And I didn’t get to on the flight.”

“I bet everyone dies at the end.” Sara said, looking over Laurel’s shoulder. 

“There’s a second one.” 

“That’s why it’s unexpected!”

Laurel laughed and looked at her sister. “Do you want me to read it to you?”

Sara smiled and nodded, sliding off the chair and onto the floor in front of Laurel. “Ready.”

Grinning a little, Laurel looked back to her book and began reading aloud. 

After nearly ten minutes of reading, Dinah had arrived. It was Jerry who had seen her first and gently shook Laurel’s shoulder to alert her. Sara had jumped up the best she could and grabbed her crutches from beside the chair. Laurel stood and helped Sara get steady before running over to where Dinah was, meeting her halfway with a tight hug.

“Mom!” Laurel exclaimed, earning a laugh from Dinah. “I missed you!”

“I missed you too, Honey.” Dinah pulled away a little to press a kiss to Laurel’s forehead. “God, you’ve gotten so tall!”

“You say that every time you see me.” Laurel rolled her eyes.

“Well, I mean it every time I see you.” Dinah replied, letting Laurel go and turning to Sara. She bent down a little and gave Sara an awkward hug due to the crutches. “How does your leg feel?”

“It itches all the time, Mom.” Sara replied, smiling into Dinah’s shoulder. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, Sweetie.” Dinah kissed Sara’s forehead and looked over to Laurel. “Are you ladies ready to get going?”

“Yeah!” Laurel nodded, moving over to where their bags were.

“Can we get some food on the way?” Sara asked, trailing after Laurel. 

“Of course.” Dinah said, looking over at Laurel. “But since you asked, your sister gets to choose.”

Sara groaned loudly and Laurel couldn’t hide the smirk on her face. 

* * *

Laurel sat in her and Sara’s shared bedroom and let out a little sigh. She’d just finished unpacking her clothes and putting them in her dresser, now she was resting a little bit. The flight had been a little tiring, as always. Laurel didn’t know why flying made her so tired, but it seemed to have the same effect on Sara as well, who had fallen asleep the moment she’d flopped onto her bed.

“Enemy is everywhere.” Sara muttered, rolling onto her stomach.

Laurel furrowed her brow and idly wondered what her little sister even dreamed about. 

“Hey, Sweetie.” Dinah whispered, poking her head into Laurel’s room. “Is Sara asleep?”

Laurel nodded. “Yeah, why?”

“I heard her talking and was hoping that she was just sleep talking.” Dinah replied, entering the room fully. 

Laurel laughed and sat up a little straighter. 

“I ordered the pizzas, one with bacon and mushrooms, and one with pepperoni.” Dinah said, leaning against the doorjamb. “Unless you two have developed different tastebuds.”

“Not really.” Laurel shrugged, smiling a little. “Sara eats lettuce now.”

“Well she’d better, she’s eleven.” Dinah sat at the foot of Laurel’s bed and put a hand on her shoulder. “I missed you, Mom.”

“I missed you too, Laurel.” Dinah kissed Laurel’s forehead. “I start to miss you the moment I take you two to the airport.”

“I only miss you after the first couple of weeks.” Laurel replied in a teasing tone, earning a light slap on the arm.

“I guess I forgot that Sara wasn’t the only smart mouth.” Dinah laughed, standing up. “I’ll tell you when the pizza’s here, if you want to nap.”

“I’m good.” Laurel stood up. “Besides, I can never sleep when Sara gets all...” She looked over to where Sara was, still mumbling under her breath. 

“Yeah, it’s weird.” Dinah nodded, following Laurel out of the bedroom. “I’m going to start looking for a bigger place so you don’t have to share a room, this was only supposed to be a temporary apartment.”

“Don’t worry, Mom.” Laurel shrugged, closing the door behind them as they left the room. “Sharing with Sara isn’t a big deal. I just hold her nose until she wakes up, then I jump over to my bed and pretend to be asleep.”

“You know, I thought she had sleep apnea for a long time.” Dinah sighed, gently shoving Laurel’s shoulder. 

“Well maybe if she didn’t whisper weird things, I wouldn’t have to wake her up.” Laurel replied, flopping down onto the sofa. 

Dinah smiled and shook her head. “Just don’t do it too often, Sara still needs her sleep, she’s a growing girl.”

“No she’s not, she’s super small.” Laurel said as she idly flipped through her mother’s collection of academic magazines, stopping when she saw a particularly interesting title about Norse human sacrifices. “Did the Norse really do human sacrifices?”

“Yes, Sweetie.” Dinah called from the kitchen. “Would you like some tea?”

“Why did they sacrifice people?” Laurel asked, looking at her mother before flipping the magazine open. 

“A couple of reasons.” Dinah walked into the living room. “Some were performed for their gods at religious festivals, others were a kind of retainer sacrifice. It would be performed at a funeral, so if a wealthy person died, one of their slaves could volunteer to join them in the afterlife at their master’s funeral.”

“Weird.” Laurel laughed, closing the magazine and tossing it onto the coffee table.

“Agreed.” Dinah sat down on the chair closest to the sofa. “So, do you want to hear about all of the fun things I have planned for the summer, or do you want to wait until Sara wakes up?”

“Are these fun things safe for Sara’s clunky leg?” Laurel asked, earning a withering look from her mother. 

“Yes, I made sure to ask around about things for us to do with Sara.” Dinah sighed, setting her cup of tea down on the coffee table. “And I promise you’ll like them.”

“Are we gonna be able to go to your college?” Laurel asked excitedly. 

She and Sara both loved going to the university. Laurel liked being able to walk the halls of the buildings, looking at the artwork that decorated the walls, idly chatting with students who stopped to greet her, sitting in on her mother’s classes.. Every time they went, it felt like a new adventure and  Laurel couldn’t put a finger on it, but she loved it.

“I have to give a couple summer finals on Tuesday.” Dinah said with a small smile. “But after that, we’re free for the summer.”

“Are we gonna have to sit in on the exams?” Laurel asked, furrowing her brow. 

“No, you don’t.” Dinah replied. “I arranged it that you and Sara can hang out around campus, as long as you’re within sight of Carl from campus security.”

“Carl, the old one who always shows us pictures of his grandkids?” Laurel frowned a little. “Or Carl, the young one who with the neck tattoo?”

“Old Carl.” Dinah said with a laugh. “He said that he’d escort you two around campus for the day while I deal with exams.”

“I’m fourteen, Mom.” Laurel groaned. “I think I can handle walking around a college campus.”

Dinah sent Laurel a long look, her lips pursed a little for a moment before she spoke. “But could you handle Sara and her clunky leg by yourself?”

Laurel sighed. Dinah had a point, it would be hard to spend the day wandering around campus with Sara and her cast slowing her down. “I guess you’re right.”

“Aren’t I always?” Dinah asked teasingly. 

“No.” Sara answered from the bedroom doorway before she moved toward the living room. 

“Hey, sleepyhead. How was your nap?” Dinah smiled at Sara.

“Good.” Sara shrugged, sitting beside Laurel and propping her leg up onto the coffee table. 

“Mom says we get to hang out on campus Tuesday.” Laurel said. “Carl from campus security is gonna escort us.”

“Old Carl or Young Carl?” 

“Old.”

“Do you think he’s gonna let us ride in the golf cart?” 

“Probably.” 

Sara grinned. “You think he’s gonna take us to that wildlife museum?” 

“Maybe.” Laurel shrugged, she wasn’t even sure what a wildlife museum was. “I kind of wanna know how they fit animals into a building like that.”

“Honey, do you know what a wildlife museum is?” Dinah asked, looking oddly sympathetic. 

“No.” Laurel said with Sara echoing her.

“It’s a museum of taxidermy.” Dinah said simply. “Exotic animals that were stuffed.”

“Oh.”

It was at that moment that there was a knock on the door. Laurel watched as Dinah got up to answer the door and get their pizzas, still a little taken aback by what she had learned. 

“Who’s hungry?”

* * *

The tour of the campus was more fun than Laurel had originally thought, especially since Sara had to sit in the back because of her leg. The last building that they got to visit the main library and Carl, the campus security guard, showed them the artwork inside. Sara was especially interested in the sculpture of a topless woman holding a spear, Laurel could hardly get her sister to look at the cool area with the stained glass ceiling or the portrait of the sailing ship that was ridiculously detailed.

“Mom, you don’t understand,” Sara said as they were being driven back to their mother’s apartment. “Her boobs were out.”

“I know, Sweetie. I’ve been there.” Dinah sighed and looked at Laurel. “Did you have fun?”

“Yeah, I liked looking at the art building,” Laurel nodded. “They had cool paintings and stuff.”

“But they didn’t have a boob lady.” Sara said from the back seat. 

“I don’t understand why it’s such a big deal to you.” Laurel grumbled, looking over her shoulder at Sara, who went oddly quiet.

“Laurel, leave your sister alone.” Dinah said, looking in the mirror at Sara. “Sara, please stop talking about the woman with the spear.”

“I’ll try.” Sara said, crossing her arms and leaning back in the seat. 

“You know that she’s still thinking about it...” Laurel muttered under her breath. 

* * *

It was past midnight, and Laurel couldn’t sleep. Normally it would be because of Sara’s sleep talking, but she was silent for once. Laurel stared at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of the city outside of the apartment. The noises were different in Central City, it felt weird to be away from the little suburban area of Starling, where the only thing that would be making noise was a confused owl or the Gallaghers from across the street having another one of their fights. Laurel was sure that it was the noise, or maybe the lights.

“Are you awake?” She heard Sara whisper from the other bed. 

“Yeah.” Laurel nodded, glancing over at her sister.

“I hate how I really miss Mom until we get to visit.” Sara said a little louder. “Because then I just miss Dad.”

“Yeah.” Laurel sighed, smiling a little. “I wonder if I’d miss you if we were ever separated for more than a day.”

Sara laughed. “Probably not.”

“I miss Donna too.” Laurel said after a moment. “And Felicity.”

“I miss sharing a room with someone who’s not you.” Sara said, rolling over. Laurel chuckled at the sound of her leg banging against the wall. “I miss having a real leg and not some clunky turd that itches all the time!” 

“Sounds like it sucks.” Laurel sighed. 

“It does.” Sara grunted, Laurel could hear another clunk followed by a long growl. 

“What do you wanna do tomorrow?”

“I’m still tired from today.”

“Well, what should we do tomorrow?”

“I wanna sleep. Have my leg heal, then saw the cast off, and learn how to ride a skateboard.”

“We should get you a wheelchair and push you down a hill.” 

“Sounds fun. After that you can tie me to a car.” Laurel could almost hear Sara rolling her eyes. 

“It could be fun.”

“Fun for you to watch me fall on my face and break another leg.”

“That would be funny, but no. I don’t want a gimp for a sister anymore.”

Sara let out a dry bark of a laugh. “I miss walking.”

“I bet.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes until Laurel heard Sara’s bed squeak, she was probably sitting up. 

“I wonder if Dad misses us.” She said quietly. 

“Probably not quite as much as you miss being able to walk.”

“Would Mom feel bad if she knew we missed Dad?” Sara asked so quietly Laurel wouldn’t have heard her if she wasn’t listening. 

“Dad never feels bad when we miss Mom.” Laurel replied, looking over to Sara and smiling. 

Sara offered Laurel a small smile back. “How come none of this is hard for you?” She asked. 

Laurel chuckled dryly. “It’s hard. But I’m the big sister... I have to be there for you and take care of you. No matter what.”

“That sucks.” Sara sighed. “You can tell me when you’re sad, you know.”

“I know.” 

“Are you?”

“Nope. Are you sad?”

“I am sometimes. It’s weird. Sometimes I still hope that Mom and Dad will get back together.”

“I do too.”

“But they won’t.”

“No, they won’t.”

“That sucks.” 

“Yeah.”

Sara was quiet for a moment. “I feel bad whenever I want them to get back together. I like Donna and Felicity, and I don’t want them gone. But...”

“I know what you mean.” Laurel replied.

Laurel sighed and looked back at the ceiling. It really did suck. She took a couple deep breaths and closed her eyes, feeling herself drift off a little. Normally she’d take a moment to tell Sara that talking to her was so exhausting that she was literally about to fall asleep. But Sara seemed a little sad, so she decided to put that on the back burner for now. 

“I’m about to fall asleep.” Laurel warned, not opening her eyes. 

“Okay.” Laurel heard Sara shift in her bed. “Goodnight.”

Laurel was quiet for a moment before mumbling. “I love you.”

“Shut up.” Was the last thing Sara had said before they both drifted off.

* * *

Laurel grinned as she pushed Sara around the zoo in her wheelchair. It took only about a minute of convincing to get Dinah to get Sara a wheelchair to use when they were going about town. Much to Sara’s irritation, she was made to sit in the chair whenever they went out for longer than an hour, Dinah didn’t want Sara to get tired. Laurel had to admit that it was kind of funny, pushing Sara around.

“If you keep whining, I’ll shove you down the sidewalk.” Laurel teased, earning a glare from Sara. 

“I’ve got brakes, idiot.” Sara replied with a scowl. 

“You’ll burn the crap out of your hands if you try to stop it.” Laurel said quietly, glancing up at their mother before break out into a jog. “Mom, let’s get a picture at the statue.” She called, heading toward the large statue of the zoo’s founder sitting with a wolf. 

“Are there even wolves here?” Sara grumbled as Laurel parked her beside the bench. 

“We literally just saw the maned wolves.” Laurel sighed, setting Sara’s parking brake for her. “Maybe if you weren’t whining the whole time, you would have seen them.”

“I was too busy being used as a cup holder.” Sara rolled her eyes and climbed out of her chair before hopping over to the statue and plopping down onto the wolf’s back. 

“Okay girls, get ready and smile.” Dinah said, holding up her camera. “Cheese on three!”

Laurel hopped onto the bench and rested her arm on the founder’s shoulder, grinning wildly.

“One... Two... Three!” Dinah counted down, snapping a photo when Laurel and Sara chanted “cheese” in tandem. “Okay, one more, just in case!”

Dinah snapped another before giving them the thumbs up. 

“Awesome.” Sara grunted, climbing off the wolf and hopping over to her chair. 

“You’ve gotten really good at that.” Laurel said with a small laugh. 

“I know, right?” Sara smiled, sitting down and releasing the parking brake. “I’m gonna be the hopscotch master.”

“You should be a professional.”

“I’m training for the Olympics.” 

“I’m sure you’ll get the gold.”

Sara shrugged and leaned back in her chair. 

“Where to next, ladies?” Dinah asked, looking at her map. “The reptile house or the aquarium?”

“Let’s go to the reptile house first, I want Laurel to meet her real family.” Sara said, earning a glare from Dinah.

Laurel rolled her eyes and kicked the bottom of Sara’s seat. It wasn’t even the best insult Sara had thought of that day.

“Sara, apologize right now.” Dinah said seriously. 

Sara rolled her eyes and looked at Laurel. “Sorry I called you a lizard who Mom and Dad found outside the sewer and decided to adopt because they were afraid they’d never had a child of their own.”

“I hate you.”

“I said I was sorry.”

* * *

It was weird when Quentin and Donna picked them up from the airport, normally Felicity went with them, but it was different this time. Laurel’s brow furrowed as she looked around for Felicity, but she was nowhere to be seen. Sara seemed to notice as well based on the confused look on her face, though she could still be disoriented from her extra long nap. Quentin seemed to notice and smiled down at them as he grabbed their bags.

“Felicity’s at a sleepover with some friends.” Donna said after they made it to the car.

“Wait...” Sara mumbled, stopping in her tracks. 

Laurel’s eyes widened, she knew exactly where Sara was going with this. “Sara...” She hissed. “Stop.”

“Felicity doesn’t-” Sara started, only to be cut off when Laurel punched her in the arm. Hard. 

“She doesn’t usually miss picking us up.” Laurel continued, ignoring Sara’s glare. “Ya know because we always get pizza.”

“Well, we have some news to tell you, and we figured that Felicity would be too excited to let us tell you.” Quentin said, helping Sara in. 

“What kinda news is it?” Laurel asked, buckling her seatbelt.

“We’ll talk about it when we get home.” Donna replied. 

“Did we get a dog?” Sara asked excitedly. 

“No. We’re not getting a dog. You have Rocket.” Quentin grumbled. 

Laurel let out a tired sigh, she’d forgotten about Rocket. After being gone for so long, she’d gotten used to sleeping without a bird shrieking from across the hall. For a moment, Laurel felt bad for Felicity, she was probably the one who was tasked with taking care of him while they were gone, and he had a habit of being extra annoying when Sara wasn’t around. 

“How was your mother’s?” Donna asked, obviously trying to change the subject. 

“We took a tour of Mom’s campus and Laurel made me get a wheelchair.” Sara replied, looking over at Laurel. “Because she’s the worst.”

“It was great.” Laurel said over Sara. “We had fun, it was good to see Mom.”

“Yeah.” Sara nodded. “But we missed you, Daddy.”

“I bet you did.” Quentin laughed. “While you were off at amusement parks and eating junk food, you were definitely thinking ‘I wish Dad were here to make me eat my vegetables.’”

Laurel giggled at that before speaking. “Of course we missed you, Dad.”

“Well, I missed you both too.” Quentin said, looking at Laurel in the rearview mirror and winking. 

“So did Felicity and I.” Donna added. “She had the day you girls flew in circled on her calendar.” 

“Of course she did, I’m great.” Sara grinned. 

“Shut up.” Laurel elbowed Sara in the ribs.

“You can’t hit me, I have a broken leg.” Sara hissed, holding her ribs. 

“Don’t be dumb then.” With that, Laurel sat back in her seat and enjoyed the ride home.

* * *

“We’re getting married.”

The words rang in Laurel’s ears as she stood in the kitchen. Her mouth had gone dry and she was probably blinking too much for a normal person. It was hard to believe that her father was getting remarried, incredibly hard. She liked Donna, and Felicity was like another, better sister to her already, but she still couldn’t believe it. Laurel tried to say something. Anything. She didn’t want Quentin to think that she wasn’t happy for them. She was happy. 

Laurel looked over at Sara, whose brow was furrowed and lips slightly pursed. Sara was still processing everything, at least that meant she wasn’t going to say something rude or stupid. Laurel licked her lips and turned her attention back to Quentin and Donna, both looking at them patiently. 

“I...” Laurel started before going silent for a moment. “Wow.”

“That’s so...” Sara said, Laurel braced herself for whatever stupid thing was going to pop out of Sara’s mouth. “That’s great!” She squealed, launching forward and hugging Quentin. “Now I have twice as many moms as everyone in my class! Teddy with his stepdad can suck it!”

“Congratulations.” Laurel said after a second. “I’m so happy for you!” She leaned in and hugged her father as well. 

“And we didn’t even tell you the best thing!” Quentin said, pulling away a little to look Laurel and Sara in the eye. 

“What?” Laurel’s brow furrowed. 

“You’re going to be bridesmaids!” Donna said excitedly. “You both and Felicity!”

“You’re not gonna make us wear ugly dresses are you?” Sara asked, and Laurel couldn’t help but look at Donna nervously. Sara had a point.

“No, you girls will be able to help choose your dresses.” Donna laughed, looking over at Quentin. “She certainly has her priorities in line.”

“Thank god.” Laurel let out a sigh of relief. “When is the wedding?” She asked a little louder. 

“We haven’t even started planning, Sweetie.” Quentin said, pecking a quick kiss to the top of both Laurel and Sara’s foreheads. 

* * *

Laurel sat with Felicity in the living room, watching reruns of some cartoon that Felicity liked, barely paying attention.  She wasn’t sure what else she wanted to be doing, but waiting with her soon-to-be step-sister for her actual sister to come back from getting her cast taken off was not on that list. They were quiet for the most part, after asking each other about their summers, there was very little to talk about.

It was nice to get some peace and quiet since Quentin and Donna had decided to review the home alone rules before leaving. Of course Laurel knew not to set the house on fire, she wasn’t an idiot. The worst their parents could expect was to come home to see that neither of them had even bothered to eat anything besides chips. 

“It’s crazy that our parents are getting married.” Felicity said during a commercial break. 

“Yeah.” Laurel nodded, looking at Felicity and offering a smile. “I mean, it’ll be nice not to just have Sara, you know? Getting you as a sister is definitely an upgrade.”

“I like Sara.” Felicity said softly. “And you. But the both of you are always fighting...”

“Well, that happens when you have to deal with someone who’s always wrong and has to argue about it.” Laurel shrugged. 

Felicity laughed a little. “If we’re sisters, does that mean we’re gonna fight too?”

“I doubt it, you’re much cooler than Sara.” Laurel replied, hopping off of the sofa and walking toward the kitchen. “Do you want a soda?”

“No thanks.” Felicity said, frowning a little. “I think Sara’s cool.”

“That makes one of us.” Laurel laughed, grabbing a soda from the fridge. 

“I think you’re cool too!” Felicity exclaimed loudly, leaning back to make eye contact. “It’s just, you’re both so cool! And it’s so great that we’re gonna all be sisters and-”

“Don’t worry about it.” Laurel offered a small smile as she entered the living room. “You can like us both, we both like you.”

Felicity let out a tiny laugh and sat back up. “That’s good. It’d suck to hate each other.”

“Well, it’s pretty great that you don’t hate Sara.” Laurel sighed a little. “You have to share a room with her.”

“Sometimes I don’t like that.” Felicity mumbled. “She always leaves her clothes on the floor. It’s like she’s building a nest.”

“We share a room at my mom’s house. I totally get what you’re talking about.”

Felicity smiled. “It’s cool that our parents are getting married, huh?”

“Yeah.” Laurel nodded.

“It’s probably weird for you though.” Felicity said after looking at Laurel for a moment. “My dad left when I was little, I don’t even remember him anymore. But you and Sara...” Felicity paused and frowned a little. “Sara told me once that she used to want your mom and dad to get back together.”

Laurel rolled her eyes. “Don’t listen to Sara, she’s... she probably thought she was helping when she said that... somehow. But yeah, she’s right. I used to want them to get back together too, but it was a while ago. And it was less like wanting Dad to break up with your mom and more like... wishing that my parents never got divorced in the first place. But Sara’s not... she-” Laurel took in a deep breath. “She’s not mature enough to understand the difference. You can’t tell her I said that. Okay?”

Felicity nodded. “Yeah. So does that mean you’re happy? About the wedding?”

“Of course, you goof!” Laurel kicked Felicity gently. “If I didn’t want our parents to get married, you’d know. Trust me.” 

“It’s gonna be really great to have you as a big sister.” Felicity said. 

“What can I say? I’m great.” Laurel shrugged before turning to watch the sitcom that was playing on the TV. 

“We should get Sara to play Monopoly with us tonight.” Felicity said after a few minutes of silence. 

“Yeah right, I’m not playing with you.” Laurel grumbled. “You always beat us and you always manage to get Boardwalk AND Park Place.” 

“Come on,” Felicity whined. “I’ll give you each an extra five hundred. And I’ll be the banker!”

Laurel’s brow furrowed, it was definitely a good deal. “Fine, but you have to convince Sara to play too.”

“Yes!” Felicity exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. 

“You’re way too excited about beating us at a board game.” 

“Everyone needs a hobby.”

“Well, you killed us last time we played Sam and Max.” 

“I’m just good at stuff.”

“You’re gonna rule the world someday.”

“Well, when you’re poor and living on the street, I’ll let you live in my castle.”

“That’s nice of you.” 

* * *

“And I thought the cast was itchy.” Sara groaned. “This is killing me. I’m going to die.”

“Well, you can’t scratch.” Laurel replied, not looking up from her book. “Why don’t you go soak it again?”

“I can’t for another hour.” Sara said, propping her leg up onto the coffee table. “Look at this lump. I thought it was supposed to get better.”

“You know, I have a drink on that table.” Felicity scowled, looking at Sara’s pale and flaky leg. “You can have it...”

“I hate this.” Sara completely ignored Felicity. 

“Don’t tell me you thought you were gonna get your cast off and immediately go back to normal.” Laurel sighed, marking her page and putting her book down. 

“I didn’t, but I didn’t think it was gonna suck this bad, either.” Sara grumbled, moving her leg off the table. “I’d rather shove a sharp stick in my eye than deal with this leg. Kill me now.”

Laurel scowled. “I’d do it, but I don’t wanna get grounded.”

“What if I wrote a note?” Sara asked, smirking a little. “‘I Sara Lance, in sound mind and health, do decree that Laurel can kill me. It’s only fitting because she’s the one who broke my leg in the first place.’”

“Oh, how could I forget that I came at you with a sledge hammer?” Laurel grumbled.

“She didn’t break your leg, Sara.” Felicity piped up, earning a small smile from Laurel. “It was an accident And you shouldn’t have gotten on that rock, anyway.”

Sara rolled her eyes. “I don’t know how much I like this whole ‘arguing with me’ thing you’re doing.” 

“I argue with Laurel too.” Felicity said. 

“Well, you’ve gotta be able to fight with both of us if you wanna be our sister.” Sara conceded, patting her leg with the heel of her hand. “Does this count as scratching?”

“I don’t think so.” Laurel shrugged. “But odds are if it feels good, you’re not supposed to do it.”

“Well, at least I’m mobile now.” Sara replied, smiling at Laurel and Felicity. “No more clunking around.”

“And you won’t have to wear a cast to the wedding.” Felicity supplied. 

Sara nodded vigorously. “Too bad Dad wouldn’t let me keep my cast.”

“Why would you want it?” Laurel scowled. 

“I don’t know.” Sara shrugged. “Maybe I’d hang it on the wall of my room? Like they do with swords in castles?”

“Not in my bedroom.” Felicity mumbled under her breath. 

“Not in my house.” Laurel added with a smile. 

“Well, it’s in the trash, so no one has to worry.” Sara sighed.

“I really do have to worry because my sister wanted to keep her stinky cast.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I lied about regular updates. That's on me.

Felicity laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling and willing herself to fall asleep. Rocket was being mercifully quiet and Sara wasn’t talking in her sleep for the first time in weeks. She should be able to sleep, it really should be easy, and it was way past her bedtime. She couldn’t get her mind to quiet down long enough to actually fall asleep. All she could think about was how her mother and Quentin were getting married.

Everything was changing and it felt weird. Good, but weird.

“I can hear you thinking from here.” Sara grumbled, rolling over in her bed and glaring at Felicity. “And I really wanna go to sleep.”

“Sorry.” Felicity said, rubbing her eyes. “I’ll try to quiet down.”

Sara sighed and sat up, looking directly at Felicity. She looked tired and irritated. “Wanna talk about it?”

“Do you?” Felicity sat up as well and yawned.

“You’re gonna be my little sister, I have to offer.” Sara stretched, her back popping and cracking as she did so. “Do you want me to lay with you?”

Felicity paused for a moment before scooting over and nodding. “If it’s okay with you...”

Sara climbed out of her bed and stumbled over to Felicity’s bed before flopping down face first. “It’s really dark in here.” She mumbled as she sat up. “What’s bothering you?”

“It’s just weird.” Felicity mumbled,leaning against the wall and looking at Sara. “I’m happy that your dad is marrying my mom, but it’s just...”

“I get it.” Sara nodded. “It’s all changing. It’s weird.”

“A good weird.” Felicity added quickly, earning a nod.

“Like when you put pop rocks in your mouth then take a drink of soda.” Sara said.

“That makes me puke.” Felicity sighed, her stomach rumbling at the thought.

“Oh.” Sara was quiet for a moment. “Laurel’s better at this stuff than me...”

“It’s okay.” Felicity smiled, nudging Sara’s shoulder. “I’m really excited to be sisters.”

“So am I.” Sara replied. “Will me and Laurel have to convert if our parents get married?”

“What?”

“Are we gonna have to be Jewish?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Good.” Sara paused for a moment. “Do you still believe in Santa?”

“No, I’m too old.” Felicity furrowed her brow.

“And too Jewish, right?” Sara grinned at her little joke.

“Right.” Felicity nodded.”I can’t wait until we’re officially sisters.”

Sara put her arm around Felicity’s shoulders. “You can start calling my dad “Dad” after two years.”

“Gee, thanks.” Felicity rolled her eyes.

“I don’t make the rules.” Sara shrugged. “I think I’ll be a good big sister. I can give good advice. I’ve really got the whole comforting thing down...”

“Yeah.” Felicity smiled. “I never thought I’d have a sister. But now I have two. And they’re older than me. It’s kinda weird...”

“Yeah.” Sara nodded. “At least I wasn’t stuck with a jerk little sister to go with my jerk older sister.”

“You like my mom too, right?”

“Yeah. Donna’s great. She’s really cool, and nice, and she makes really good lasagne. Even if it’s kosher, which I don’t understand, but I like turkey bacon and turkey ham.”

“And I don’t mind blindfolding myself whenever you eat shrimp.”

“I never really liked pork chops anyway...”

“And you love kosher pickles.”

“I really do. But is God really mad at you every time you eat pork?”

“Yeah.”

Sara’s brow furrowed before she let out a sigh and shrugged. “I’m gonna do it anyway.”

* * *

“We’re going to have a small ceremony, not a lot of people, no muss, no fuss.” Donna said as she made scrambled eggs.

“Is there gonna be a reception?” Felicity asked, sipping her juice.

“Of course!” Quentin smiled as he sat down at the table with his coffee. “Everyone knows that the reception is the best part. We’re gonna have a thirty minute service, then party for the rest of the night.”

“We’re having a non denominational service.” Donna supplied, putting the pan down in the middle of the table after she’d finished the eggs. “Then we’ll sign the ketubah and we’re done.”

“What is that?” Laurel asked with a furrowed brow.

“A Jewish marriage contract.” Felicity said. “You’re not officially married until you sign it.”

“Oh cool.” Laurel replied, looking at Donna. “Are you gonna wear a white dress?”

“Maybe a light colored one.” Donna said with a smile.

“Are you allowed to mix milk with eggs?” Sara asked after a moment, looking down at her eggs with confusion.

Donna and Quentin shared a confused look while Felicity laughed.

“She’s trying to be kosher, Mom.” Felicity explained, earning a small chuckle from Donna. “Last night she asked if she had to convert.”

“No one is converting.” Quentin said quickly, putting a hand on Sara’s shoulder. “Your mother would kill me if I made you two change religions.”

“You can’t  _ make  _ us change religions.” Laurel said with a scowl. “I can be whatever I want. I could be a Buddhist and you wouldn’t know.”

“Yeah we would.” Sara grumbled through a mouthful of eggs. “Cause you’d never shut up about it.”

“Oh, I never shut up, do I?” Laurel sneered. “You’re the one who talks even when she’s unconscious.”

“It is a condition!” Sara exclaimed, slamming her fork down.

“Ladies, what have I said about fighting before we’ve finished breakfast?” Quentin sighed, setting down his coffee mug and looking at his daughters tiredly.

“Not to?” Felicity asked. “There are a lot of rules about when we’re all allowed to fight, it’s hard to keep track.”

“This is the rule I was referencing.” Quentin replied, smiling a little at Felicity. “At least my soon-to-be step-daughter understands the rules.”

“Just because she knows the rules, doesn’t mean she follows them.” Donna laughed, sending Felicity a pointed look. “Right, honey?”

Felicity’s cheeks turned red and she looked at her plate. She wasn’t completely sure which rule her mom was talking about, but she definitely knew it was probably one of the big ones. Maybe it was because she ruined the family computer the previous week. How was she supposed to know what would happen if she played with the command center?

“I said I was sorry.” Felicity mumbled.

“It’s okay. I was really bad at Sam and Max anyway.” Sara shrugged.

“Sweetie, the computer is used for more than just for you to fail at video games.” Quentin smiled at Sara, earning a glare.

“I’m not that bad.” Sara sighed.

“You can’t even beat Monkey Island.” Laurel laughed.

“It’s a stupid game!” Sara exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. “The main guy’s name is Guybrush Threepwood!”

“A stupid game you can’t beat.” Laurel said with a smirk.

“I feel like we’re venturing into fighting territory...” Donna said, gently. It was her best fight diffusing voice. “Why don’t we tap the brakes?”

“Ladies, please.” Quentin said sternly. “Just stop.”

* * *

Felicity looked at her cards and frowned a little.

She, Sara, and Quentin were playing blackjack while Laurel and Donna were out looking at dresses. At first, Felicity and Sara had wanted to go, they’d even argued for it. But then Donna had said that they would probably end up spending hours at dress shops. At that, both girls had decided that it would be much more fun to play cards and watch the football game with Quentin.

 “You gonna hit or pass?” Quentin said.

“What do you think I should do?” Felicity asked, showing Quentin her cards.

“Hard to say.” Quentin thought for a moment. “I’d hit.”

“Okay.” Felicity nodded. “Hit me.”

Quentin pulled a card off the top of the deck and placed it in front of Felicity. It was a five, Felicity tried to hide her smile. She couldn’t let Sara know she was so close to twenty-one.

Quentin looked to Sara. “What are you gonna do?”

“Hit me.” Sara said with a grin.

“Honey, you’re at eighteen.” Quentin said after looking at Sara’s cards. “You never hit at eighteen. Especially when you’re betting five pretzels.”

Sara smiled wider and nodded. “Hit me!” She repeated firmly.

Quentin shook his head as he dealt her a card. “There is a neon city in the desert just waiting for you, Sweetie.”

Both Quentin and Felicity were surprised when Sara won that hand. Maybe Sara really did need to go to Las Vegas. Felicity watched as Sara raked in the pretzels, smiling at her father as she did so. Sometimes Felicity was a little afraid of Sara.

“Can we go to Vegas, Daddy?” Sara handed back her cards for Quentin to shuffle. “I promise I’ll win a ton of money.”

“Yeah, and it’ll all go in your college fund.” Quentin replied, not looking up from the cards. “We still playin’ Blackjack, ladies? Or do you wanna try some Texas Hold'em?”

“I’m pretty good with Blackjack.” Sara looked at Felicity. “What do you wanna do?”

Felicity was quiet for a moment. “When does the game start?”

Quentin and Sara furrowed their brows before Quentin looked at the clock. “Good call. It’s on in almost a minute.”

“You just don’t want to lose all your snacks to me.” Sara said smugly, moving to her spot on the sofa.

Felicity bit her bottom lip and looked away. She really didn’t want to admit that, even if it were true.

Her silence seemed to be enough or Sara, who merely scoffed and turned to look at the TV.

* * *

“I don’t know what any of this means.” Laurel said, looking at Felicity’s math homework. “I passed this class. I got an A. How do I not know what it means?”

“Maybe you’re not as smart as you think you are.” Sara supplied from across the dining room table, her homework was untouched.

“Maybe you can help, Sara?” Felicity asked, smiling a little when laughed at her and looked back at her own homework. “We take the same math.”

“I never said  _ I  _ understood it.” Sara said with a shrug and looking at her notebook. “I’m just gonna wing it.”

“Solid plan.” Laurel rolled her eyes.

“Better than asking  _ you  _ for help.” Sara looked incredibly smug as she turned her book to the very back. “They put the answers to the odd ones on the back.”

“Mr. Meyers has us do evens.” Felicity frowned.

“Yeah, but it shows how to do one in the beginning of each section.” Sara started to copy down the answers in her notebook. “I just replace all the numbers in the other questions, then I wait until we go over it in class, I just write down the answers.”

“And since you wrote down the work, it looks like it’s all done so when Mr. Meyers goes around you get full credit even though you didn’t earn it.” Laurel sighed, flipping Felicity’s book back. “Looks like we’re doing the same thing because we all know that Dad doesn’t know math.”

“Do you need to know math to be a cop?” Felicity asked.

“Only if there’s a serial killer who leaves math based clues.” Laurel replied.

“I think that was a cartoon villain.” Sara said offhandedly, not looking up from her work. “Now shut up, I’m trying to work.”

“You’re copying the answers from the back of the book.” Laurel said in an exasperated tone. “How hard could you possibly be working?”

“Reading is work.” Sara grumbled, her brow furrowing. “Numbers are work. Fours look like nines. You gotta focus hard.”

Felicity frowned and looked at Laurel.

“Being bad at math is hard work, guys.” Sara said with a frown.

The three of them went silent and started to actually work on their homework. Felicity chose to actually do her math instead of doing what Sara and Laurel had recommended. Somehow she’d managed to finish before Sara, which was really weird. Then again, Felicity always finished her homework before Sara.

“Why do I even need to do homework?” Sara groaned, closing her math book and leaning back in her seat.

“It’s to make sure you understand the lesson.” Felicity shrugged.

“Look, all homework does is tell me what I don’t understand. And trust me, by the time we get to the test, I still won’t understand.”

“What are you getting in math?”

“C minus.”

Felicity frowned and looked back at her English homework.

* * *

The wedding seemed to come much faster than Felicity had anticipated. Before she knew it, her, Laurel, and Sara were standing at the small wedding that their parents had put together. Felicity could hardly see what was going on because Sara kept fidgeting, but then again there probably wasn’t that much to see anyway.

Felicity glanced at the small crowd of people who’d come to the wedding. She recognized a few of her mother’s friends, but not much else. She’d asked Quentin earlier if he was going to be wearing his uniform to the wedding, but he’d told her that they only wear those to special events. Like charity balls and funerals. Laurel had told her later that special events meant boring dinners. It was one of the few things

For a moment, Felicity thought that the wedding should be listed as a special event. She’d had more fun watching Quentin and Donna sign the ketubah.

She watched as Quentin and Donna kissed and were pronounced married, making a note to ask her mother why the minister didn’t pronounce them man and wife. The minister then invited everyone to the reception hall, that was conveniently right next to the hall Quentin and Donna had just been married in.

Unfortunately, that invitation to eat was not extended to the wedding party. They had to have their pictures taken.

“Just one more of the girls together.” The photographer said after twenty minutes, holding up his camera again.

“My stomach is digesting itself.” Laurel said through her teeth as she smiled wide.

“Just smile.” Sara replied, sounding irritated. “The sooner this is over, the sooner I can murder a shirley temple.”

“Those are non alcoholic.” Felicity mumbled.

“I know that, they just make me feel cool.”

The camera flashed and the photographer smiled. “All right ladies, good job.”

“Finally.” Felicity let her face relax and looked at her mother. “Can we get some food now?”

“Yeah, you three go on.” Donna nodded. “We’ll be right in.”

Before Felicity could look to Sara and Laurel, they’d already bolted toward the reception area.

“Guys wait up!” Felicity chased after them.

The reception boring, thanks to the fact that there was no one their age and the half-drunk police officers jokingly telling the girls not to drink alcohol and fake arresting Sara. They’d succeeded in making Felicity and Laurel feel incredibly awkward. Felicity would’ve asked Sara how she was feeling about the whole thing, but she’d disappeared around the same time she’d realized that no one was in any position to unlock her handcuffs.

“This is really boring.” Felicity said, putting another cherry in her Sprite as she and Laurel sat at the bar. “Try it now.”

“Yeah, but Grandma Ruth gave me twenty bucks.” Laurel shrugged, sipping Felicity’s Sprite. “This is terrible.”

“Yeah.” Felicity nodded, stirring her drink. “Maybe a lime slice would help it.”

“I think it’s time to give up on that.” Laurel pushed Felicity’s drink away and looked over to where Quentin and Donna were dancing. “At least they’re having fun.”

“Why do old people have to make dancing seem so awkward?”  Felicity mumbled.

“It’s because their joints don’t work anymore.” Laurel replied, smiling when the bartender handed her another soda. “And the older you get, the more rhythm you lose.”

“That makes sense.” Felicity nodded, frowning a little. “When is your Grandma Ruth planning on taking us home anyway?”

“I don’t know.” Laurel shrugged, sipping her drink. “She likes to milk buffets for all they’re worth, I swear she carries plastic baggies in her purse just in case she comes across a buffet.”

“Your grandma’s awesome.” Felicity grinned.

“Yeah, I know. She always gives us money whenever we visit.” Laurel nodded, showing Felicity the twenty dollar bill. “One time she forgot to go to the bank and just gave me and Sara each ten dollars in rolled up quarters.”

“Oh wow...”

“Yeah, we played the crane game and got like two bears.”

“Oh that’s awesome!”

“Not really...”

“You didn’t have any left over, did you?”

“No...”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, it was an upsetting day.”

* * *

Laurel and Sara’s grandmother was a sweet old lady, who had an odd habit of threatening to use “the swatter” whenever Laurel and Sara got too rowdy. She was also nice to Felicity even though, as Sara had so eloquently put it “had nothing to do with her at all.” Felicity liked her well enough too, even though she was weird.

“Did you girls have fun?” Grandma Ruth asked as she drove them home.

“Duh, Grandma.” Laurel said with a smile. “It was a party.”

“Yeah, it was great.” Felicity replied, glancing over at Sara, who’d fallen asleep on her shoulder before shifting her shoulder up and knocking Sara in the chin.

“I’m awake!” Sara announced, head shooting up.

“Nice to know, sweetie.” Grandma Ruth said absentmindedly.

“How did you get out of those handcuffs?” Felicity whispered as Grandma Ruth and Laurel started to talk about the wedding.

Sara shrugged and show Felicity her wrists, each with a cuff around them and the chain broken. “I talked to a utility guy and he used some bolt cutters on me.”

“That’s kinda-”

“Lame, I know right. I wish that I’d done something cool, but no.” Sara looked down at the cuffs. “Cool bracelets, though, right?”

“Eh.” Felicity shrugged, it made Sara look like a convict.

“So you don’t want one?” Sara asked, frowning a little.

Felicity would be lying if she said that she didn’t want one. They were oddly appealing. “I do want one.”

“I knew it.” Sara looked smug. “Well you’re in luck because none of my other friends would want one and Laurel doesn’t get one because she’s the worst.”

“She’s not the worst.” Felicity argued.

Sara sent Felicity an annoyed look. “When she was six and I was four, she told me that demons would eat me if I ever slept with my door open.”

“Yikes.” Felicity frowned before realization dawned on her. “Is that why you sometimes get up in the middle of the night and open Laurel’s door?”

“I...” Sara paused. “Don’t have a parent or lawyer present, so I don’t have to answer any questions.”

“Oh wow.” Felicity looked out the window.

“Yeah, I’ve always wanted to say that.” Sara smiled, settling in her seat.


End file.
